Are the Chiefs Still in Contract Talks With Branden Albert?

This time of year in the NFL is filled with more mystery and intrigue than a Tom Clancy novel. Didn’t get the reference? How’s this? Everything you hear from now until the draft will likely be filled with as much un-truth as truth. Are players in contract talks? Have talks broken down? Who’s signing, who’s not? It’s all speculation until the league office reports that a deal is done.

That’s why guys like me who live on this stuff hang on to every word — and more importantly in my line of work — every tweet that a player makes in regards to his status with the team next year. In that vain, Chiefs left tackle Branden Albert is no shortage for entertaining tweets.

With the franchise tag deadline done and over with, Albert is scheduled to hit free agency next year. That is cause for concern for a large amount of Chiefs fans, as Albert has been the anchor of the offensive line for quite some time now. That caused one female fan to call out to Albert.

Probably much to this young lady’s surprise — and definitely to my surprise — Albert tweeted her back. More surprised by the fact he answered her was what he said.

While this is hardly definitive proof that Albert’s people are still in negotiations with Chiefs general manager John Dorsey, it does provide some room to speculate. With the cap space the Chiefs have available right now, the team could potentially move some stuff around to re-sign Albert. While I think the most likely outcome is that Albert will head into free agency to test the waters, I think the fact that he made this statement provides hope that he could return.

Keeping Albert under a team friendly contract would be ideal, but not likely. He is a pro bowl talent that will probably find a team willing to pay him. Still, if Dorsey could figure something out, having Albert on the left side and an every improving Eric Fisher on the right could mean great things for the Chiefs for years to come. But if the team is going to do something, they’d better hurry up.

The Chiefs only have five more days to exclusively negotiate with the players on the roster slated to be free agents next week. Starting at 3 PM Arrowhead time on March 8, other teams can express interest to players, however no contracts can be finalized until March 11 when the new league year begins.

Regardless, things could continue to get crazy with free agency. The general consensus is Albert is gone, but Dorsey may have a trick up his sleeve to keep him around. It looks like we’ll know soon enough. Of course, the last time Albert was this “talky” on Twitter, he abruptly deleted his account, so who knows what’s going on. Like I  said…Tom Clancy.