With the news coming out that the Oakland Raiders have tagged Tyvon Branch, that leaves the other primary possibility to receive the franchise tag open for business. The good news for many teams around the NFL in need of some assistance in the ground game that Michael Bush could now be available.
For the last few years, Bush has been a part of a dynamic backfield for the Raiders along with Darren McFadden. The only issue is that McFadden cannot seem to stay healthy and was out for a half season last year. Bush always filled in admirably and created a great tandem between the two. But now, the back-up can make his money and get a better chance for more carries.
The Chiefs might be among the teams interested in his services given that the team has only Jamaal Charles coming back from offseason surgery and rehab for a torn ACL on the roster. Jackie Battle, Thomas Jones and Le’Ron McClain are all free agents, which means there’s no way of knowing what the Chiefs might do.
They’ve been connected to several mid-round running backs through the draft — from David Wilson and Lamar Miller around the second round to Isaiah Pead a bit later on — but Bush would definitely be a stronger, more experience option at this point. The Chiefs definitely have money to spend and bolstering the offensive backfield would be a good use of funds.
Last year, Bush had 256 carries for 977 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns.