Bowe’s Franchise Tag Could Come Today

The Kansas City Chiefs are running out of time to re-sign Dwayne Bowe.

While none of KC’s players will become free agents until March 13, the deadline to use the franchise tag is Monday. While there is still time to negotiate, teams are starting to get antsy. The Philadelphia Eagles announced yesterday that they would be using the tag on WR DeSean Jackson and the Oakland Raiders plan to tag safety Tyvon Branch.

It will be interesting to see how the Chiefs proceed. If Scott Pioli and Bowe’s agent don’t plan on negotiating over the weekend then the tag could come today. If they do, then KC’s GM might wait until the last minute.

The wild card here is CB Brandon Carr. Pioli has said he would still like to re-sign Carr so should the team reach a long-term deal with Bowe, the GM would have the option to tag Carr instead.

There were reports last weekend that the Chiefs were planning to tag Bowe should the sides not reach a deal. In light of that news, I wonder if the Chiefs are negotiating with Bowe at all right now. It is possible that if they know they are going to tag Bowe, they are focusing all of their efforts on negotiating with Carr. The logic here would be that the team can always negotiate with Bowe later because his rights will be secured with the tag. If that is the case, however, then why not tag Bowe now?

Keep an eye on the site today. We’ll get word to you as soon as we hear anything, if we hear anything. The story will likely appear in The Hub first so be sure to keep an eye there.