Will the Chiefs use the Franchise Tag option?

Back in November of last year, former agent turned sports analyst Joel Corry wrote an article for CBS Sports in which he projected the 2016 Franchise Tag amounts.  Corry is one of the better insiders in the business for this type of information because his background is in player-based negotiations.  It gives him unique insight and understanding, so when he projects something like this, it’s probably going to be right.  For the purpose of his article, Corry calculated the NFL salary cap to be at $154 million for the 2016 season.  Here is how his projections would work out for the Chiefs current franchise tag options:

Eric Berry ($10.7 million) – The third lowest Franchise Tag amount belongs to the safety position, which kind of works out for the Chiefs.  There is absolutely no way that general manager John Dorsey would be able to justify letting Berry walk away from the organization, so that makes it a virtual lock that he will get a new contract.  However, the specifics of that contract may take some time, so the Franchise Tag makes a lot of sense here.  Berry would be the most affordable option on the tag, and would allow the team a bit more financial room for working on other deals.

Berry was named as the most likely option for the Chiefs franchise tag by ESPN’s Chiefs columnist Adam Teicher.  While Teicher isn’t always the most popular Chiefs writer out there, I can’t fault his logic on this choice and agree wholeheartedly.  Barring the announcement of a deal in the next two weeks, I would say that Eric Berry is an absolute lock to receive the franchise tag while continuing to work on a new multi-year contract.

Next: Sean Smith and Jaye Howard