NFL Franchise Tag 2013: Kansas City Chiefs Are Days Big Winners
By Josh Sanchez
The Kansas City Chiefs weren’t heard from all day leading up to the 4:00 p.m. ET deadline for teams to designate a potential free agent with the franchise tag, but as the clock struck four o’clock the Chiefs could be heard loud and clear.
Kansas City made a flurry of moves that kept their big name players who were set to hit the open market on their roster.
The team managed to sign a long-term deal with Dwayne Bowe that will keep him in Kansas City for the next five-years. Not only did they lock up Bowe for the future, the new deal allowed the team to slap the franchise tag on Branden Albert.
It was initially feared that the Chiefs would lose one of those two players to free agency, but their ability to lock up a long-term deal opened up limitless possibilities for the team.
On top of keeping Bowe and Albert in town, Kansas City signed punter Dustin Colquitt to a new five-year deal that makes him the highest punter in the league.
Everyone will now begin to analyze what the Chiefs should do with the first-overall pick.
Should you let the moves you make with the franchise tag dictate the direction of your draft? Of course not. The franchise tag is not a long-term solution, so using the tag on Albert does not immediately erase any chance of the team deciding to draft Luke Joeckel or Eric Fisher, but it does open up some different options.
Is it possible that they could take one of the consensus top players on the board in Chance Warmack or Dee Milliner now that they locked up their starting tackle or could the team turn their attention to a star defensive lineman?
There is also the possibility that the Chiefs could bump Albert inside to guard and still draft Joeckel or Fisher — which would likely be the best plan for the future in Kansas City.
A lot of questions still need to be answered for Andy Reid and his new regime, but one thing is for sure — the Chiefs are the big winners just before the start of free agency.