February 20, 2012
With the announcement that the Kansas City Chiefs reached a three-year agreement with CB Stanford Routt this afternoon, it’s becoming more and more likely that WR Dwayne Bowe will receive the franchise tag from the Chiefs organization. According to Kansascity.com, Routt has agreed to a contract which will pay him nearly $20 million with $6 million guaranteed for the next three seasons.
Leading up to free agency this offseason, there was a great deal of speculation as to whether or not the Kansas City Chiefs would place the franchise tag on either WR Dwayne Bowe or on CB Brandon Carr. Now, with the signing of Routt, it appears that the Chiefs are going to let Carr test the free agent water next month.
The apparent move to franchise Bowe, just increased the going rate of other elite receivers set to hit the free agent market this offseason.
It’s possible that the Chiefs could try to retain Carr given their salary cap money available heading into the 2012 season, but it’s highly unlikely that the franchise will invest that much money into two starting corner backs while franchising Bowe. Carr is likely to garner significant interest on the free agent market, especially from teams employing the Tampa-2 defensive scheme.
By Eric Schmidt