Fansided

Dwayne Bowe won’t be released before free agency starts

By Stanford Crissey

Dec 14, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe (82) attempts to catch the ball in front of Oakland Raiders cornerback Tarell Brown (23) in the first half at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 14, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe (82) attempts to catch the ball in front of Oakland Raiders cornerback Tarell Brown (23) in the first half at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Chiefs receiver Dwayne Bowe will be released Wednesday, according to reports

As expected, the Kansas City Chiefs will be parting ways with longtime receiver Dwayne Bowe. Somewhat surprisingly, they are waiting until after free agency begins to do so.

Bowe’s release has seemed inevitable ever since the Chiefs agreed to a deal with ex-Eagles receiver Jeremy Maclin. The former Eagle will average $11 million a year in salary, and there simply wasn’t room for two receivers making eight figures on this cash-strapped roster, especially when one of them (Bowe) had zero touchdown catches last year.

The Chiefs entered free agency over the salary cap, and despite restructuring some deals, including Tamba Hali’s, they needed to get under the cap to sign Maclin and fellow free agent acquisition Tyvon Branch. Bowe comes with a $10.75 cap hit next year.

The 30-year-old Bowe has spent his entire career with Kansas City, after being drafted in the first round in 2007.

Bowe was a Pro Bowler in 2010, when he led the league with 15 touchdown catches. Since then he’s been on the decline, compiling 13 touchdowns in the four years since then. 2014 was a particularly weak year for the veteran wideout, with just 60 receptions for 754 yards and no touchdowns.

Bowe is being released just two years into a five-year, $53 million deal he signed in 2013.

Kansas City has already released wide receivers Donnie Avery and A.J. Jenkins this offseason. Those two weren’t exactly playmakers, but the team is still very thin at receiver. Wideout for the Chiefs was perhaps the weakest position on any team in the NFL in 2014; no wideout caught even a single touchdown pass for the team last year. The last team to do so was the 1964 Giants; back then, the Bears led the league in passing with just over 200 yards per game. Having a season with no wide receiver touchdowns is basically unthinkable in the modern NFL; no one should be surprised that the Chiefs are overhauling their receiving corps.

As for Bowe, while he won’t be able to reach the kind of salary the Chiefs owed him on the open market, but as a solid receiver who rarely misses games and has a history of productivity, he should find a new team pretty easily. He was miscast as a number one option in Kansas City, but he could be a solid number two receiver for another team.

More from FanSided

Home/Kansas City Chiefs