Chiefs to franchise tag Bowe

[Masters]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7...fs-franchise-dwayne-bowe-two-sides-reach-deal

The Kansas City Chiefs plan to use the franchise tag on wide receiver Dwayne Bowe if the two sides cannot reach a new deal, according to a league source.
The franchise tag number for wide receivers this year is $9.5 million.
The 27-year-old Bowe had another good season despite a revolving door of quarterbacks in Kansas City last season, catching 81 passes for 1,159 yards and five touchdowns.
It was his third 1,000-yard season, and he has caught at least 70 passes in four of his five NFL seasons. He led the NFL in 2010 with 15 touchdown receptions and has 36 TD catches in his career.
One NFL general manager estimated that, with the cost of the franchise tags decreasing because of the new collective bargaining agreement, as many as 25 tags could be used to restrict player movement this offseason.
The franchise tag used to be based on the average of the top five salaries at that position from last season. In the new CBA, it's based on the average of the top five salaries at that position from the previous five seasons.
Adam Schefter is ESPN's NFL Insider. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

 

[Riffer X]

They are going to continue dropping like flies, and this is one guy I would have loved to get. It's not going to be as easy as some think to get weapons in here if you trade away your draft picks.

 

[Masters]

It never is. Far to often the potential FA crop is looked at, people start drooling, and forget that most guys never hit the market. The one thing which is going to be interesting is how teams go after RFA. With the new CBA teams can't put as much of a pick price tag on guys as they were previoulsy able to do.