Coffee with the Chiefs – Applying the tag

Good morning, Addicts! We are moving to the end of the week, which is always a beautiful thing. The Kansas City Chiefs are down in Mobile, Ala. at the moment, trying to find the next hidden gem in the NFL Draft. General manager John Dorsey is with his front office, looking over legions of prospects that will be NFL players in a few months.

In the meantime, Dorsey and Co. have to worry about impending free agents. The players who are going to command major money are corner Sean Smith, defensive end Jaye Howard and safety Eric Berry. So, should the Chiefs slap the franchise tag on somebody, as they did with Justin Houston last year?

Here is the news you need to know…

Franchising Sean Smith might not be a bad idea for Kansas City – Joel Thorman of Arrowhead Pride

"Now Smith, 28, is scheduled to be a free agent again in March. Someone is going to be willing to pay him a lot of money. Probably more than the Chiefs. Before it even gets to that point, however, the Chiefs can slam the door on this. They can use the franchise tag on Smith, which last year for cornerbacks was about $13 million. It should be a similar number this year (a little higher)."

What are the Chiefs’ options with guard Ben Grubbs? – Joel Thorman of Arrowhead Pride

"And then Grubbs started playing. He was OK, not dominant, before a neck injury ended his season. I’m not sure what we expected but the first year wasn’t really what anyone expected. I don’t know anything about the injury but obviously neck injuries can be serious, particularly if they end your season early like this one did with Grubbs."

Alex Smith’s scrambling added dimension to Kansas City offense – Adam Teicher of ESPN

"What broke the game open was the scrambling ability of quarterback Alex Smith. Smith started Kansas City’s first drive of the period with a 49-yard run in which he outraced four defenders to get to the sideline and gain a large portion of the yardage."