One of the major stories of the offseason in kansas City has been the contract talks between star WR Dwayne Bowe and the Chiefs.
The team offered Bowe the franchise tender which he has not yet signed. As a result, Bowe sat out all of the team’s offseason practices while he awaits a potential long-term deal.
According to a recent report from NFL.com, the feeling around the league is that the Chiefs and Bowe will eventually come to an agreement that will keep the former first-round pick in Kansas City for multiple seasons.
I caught this little nugget in a recent article by Steve Wyche about the salary cap.
"“Deadlines tend to get things done and you’ll start seeing a lot of these franchise deals get worked out the first two weeks of July,” the salary cap official said.The Saints have said they want to take care of Brees and the feeling around the league is that a long-term deal will be reached and all will be good. The same result is expected with Bowe in Kansas City."
I don’t think there was ever much of a question of Brees eventually getting inked but Chiefs fans have understandably been nervous about Bowe.
The team’s most consistent receiving threat over the last few seasons, Bowe has a couple incidents in his past that have led some to speculate that Chiefs GM Scott Pioli is hesitant to invents long-term bucks in Pro Bowl WR. The team has also added a number of wide receivers in the last couple of years, including first round pick Jon Baldwin a season ago. There have been some theories that Pioli will allow Bowe to play under the franchise tag in 2012. Should Baldwin emerge in his sophomore season, Bowe would be allowed to enter free agency.
While the NFL.com story is just speculation, it is still good to know that in league circles at least, the feeling is that Bowe and the Chiefs are genuinely trying for a long-term agreement.
Bowe and the Chiefs will have until July 15th to get a deal done. If they do not, Bowe will have to play the entire season under the franchise tag, which will cost the Chiefs a shade over $9 million.
With just under four weeks to go, a deal for Bowe could be coming soon.