If You Ran The Chiefs: Dwayne Bowe
Hello, loyal Chiefs fans. As we sit and watch the minutes slowly tick away while we await the start of training camp, I’ve once again been racking my brain to try and think of something interesting to talk about. With little to no new information coming out of Arrowhead this month the only way to make this interesting is to get you, the reader, involved. Your original and varied outlooks on different topics make for a much more interesting Chiefs discussion than just reading something I came up with. So here’s what I decided to do. This week’s post is the first of a three-part series called “If You Ran The Chiefs.” For the next three weeks I want your feedback on what you would do if you were in charge of our beloved team.
This week we’ll tackle the Dwayne Bowe contract situation.
Next week we’ll take on what the Chiefs should do (long-term) with former first round picks Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson. Finally, in two weeks we’ll get your opinion on what the Chiefs should do at the quarterback position.
Okay, let’s talk D-Bowe.
Before I give you some options for what you would do with Bowe going forward, let’s make sure we get a fair picture of who Dwayne Bowe is as a WR. In his five seasons in the NFL he has averaged the following per season:
71 receptions
985 yards
13.8 yards/reception
7 TDs
Now, those numbers are hampered by the 2009 season where he missed games because of a suspension for PEDs. If you take out 2009 the averages become:
77 receptions
1,085 yards
14 yards/reception
8 TDs
Last season Bowe ranked 10th in the NFL in receptions, 13th in yards, and 45th in TDs. The year before he finished ranked 19th in receptions, 7th in yards, and 1st in TDs.
The other stat you have to figure in with Bowe is dropped passes. According to the always amazing stat gurus at Pro Football Focus, last season Bowe was 6th in the NFL in dropped passes among WRs with 10. In fact, according to this article at Pro Football Focus, between the years of 2008 and 2010 Bowe had the second highest percentage of dropped passes in the NFL at 13.87 percent (behind only Braylon Edwards). That means that over that three year time span, Bowe dropped almost 14 percent of the catchable passes thrown his way.
So bottom line, is Dwayne Bowe a big time WR talent? Yes, you don’t lead the NFL in TDs like Bowe did in 2010 (with 15) if you aren’t a supreme talent. However, you also have to admit that Bowe has some consistency issues. Between the dropped passes and a suspension for using an illegal substance to help him lose weight before the start of the 2009 season there are reasons to be cautious.
Now, nobody knows exactly what Dwayne Bowe is thinking in terms of his contract. He and his agent could certainly point at his receptions, yards, and TDs over the past two seasons and say that he deserves a contract in the same range that Vincent Jackson just got with TB (5 years, $55.5 million with $26 million fully guaranteed). Now, I don’t see Scott Pioli giving Bowe that much money. I also don’t see D-Bowe as the type to take less money than he could get on the open market in order to stay with a run first, small market team that has Matt Cassel as its QB. That is just my opinion though. And this isn’t about my opinion or even Pioli’s for that matter. Today, you are in charge.
So what would you do about Dwayne Bowe if you ran the Chiefs?
Here are the options as I see them:
1. Pay Dwayne Bowe whatever it takes to keep him long term.
If he wants Jackson money, give it to him. Our passing game would have been HORRIFIC without Bowe these past couple of seasons. The Chiefs simply can’t allow him to leave under any circumstances and we have the money to pay him.
2. Sign Bowe now if he’ll take a reasonable deal, otherwise make him play under the franchise tag and see what happens.
If Baldwin plays great then maybe you can afford to let him walk after this season, or if Baldwin looks good and Bowe just has an okay season then maybe you can re-sign Bowe at a discount. If Bowe plays great and Baldwin doesn’t look like a number one WR then you’ll probably have to tag Bowe again and then pay him mega dollars.
3. Play Bowe for one more year under the franchise tag and then let him walk.
Bowe is just too inconsistent to invest in a long-term contract. Get what you can out of him while he plays for a huge deal but let someone else be the one to gamble those millions on a knucklehead.
4. Sign Bowe to a long-term deal now and then trade him before his value drops.
I’ve heard several fans suggest this. The idea is that you sign Bowe to a contract now while KC can afford him and get another good year or two out of him and then trade him while his value is still high. This would be a very Patriot-esque type of move. The only danger here would be if Bowe dogs it after getting a big deal and torpedoes his trade value.
Now I’m sure there are other options or variations of these that you could come up with but I think those four options pretty well sum up most people’s opinion. I considered making this a poll, but I’d rather get people talking in the comments. So post which of these four options you would do with Bowe if you ran the Chiefs in the comments below with a short justification and we’ll see just how Chiefs Nation would handle the Bowe contract situation.
Come back next Monday for part two of the series when we’ll talk about what you would do with Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson if you ran the Chiefs.
As always, thanks for reading and GO CHIEFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!