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Is The Franchise Tag Enough Money For Dwayne Bowe?

SB Nation Kansas City discusses a tweet made by Sports Illustrated's Peter King about Dwayne Bowe's contract situation and looks into how much time is left before a decision needs to be made.

By William Watts
Getty Images

On March 5, 2012 the Kansas City Chiefs designated Dwayne Bowe as their franchise player. That move guarantees Bowe a salary of about $9.5 million next season, providing he that signs the franchise tender. As of June 19, that has not officially happened.

The Kansas City Chiefs have until July 15, 2012 to come to a long term agreement with Dwayne Bowe or he will have to play under the franchise tag for the upcoming season.

When franchise tagged, players like Dwayne Bowe don't have a lot of options. He can officially sign the tender and hope that the Chiefs remain committed to reaching a long term contract with him in earnest. Also, Bowe can sign the tender, take his $9.5 million and hope for a long term contract opportunity next season if he becomes a free agent and avoids serious injury. Or, Bowe can refuse to sign the tender and hope that he forces the Chiefs hand in offering him a contract by holding out.

Peter King is stating in his above tweet that $9.5 million isn't enough money for Dwayne Bowe. He then attempts to hammer home his satire statement, by highlighting Bowe's average stats from his career.

Will Scott Pioli feel the same way?

Dwayne Bowe has scored 36 touchdowns for the Kansas City Chiefs since he was drafted 23rd overall in 2007, that is 216 points that Dwayne Bowe has put on the Chiefs scoreboard over the past five seasons.

Can Kansas City afford to lose another potential 216 points over the next five years in a heavy passing league. Also, will they readily be able to replace those points without a man like Dwayne Bowe dragging defenders with some of the best YAC yards seen in the NFL?

Are Kansas City Chiefs fans prepared to watch an offense without a true number one receiver for the first time since 2006?

For the 2012 NFL season, that shouldn't be an issue unless Dwayne Bowe blatantly refuses to sign his franchise tender and holds out for the year. At this point, the possibility of that happening appears to be slim, but of course, the threat is still there and very real.

Looking at this starting offense without Dwayne Bowe is a little encouraging:

QB: Matt Cassel
RB: Jamaal Charles, Peyton Hillis
WR: Steve Breaston, Jonathan Baldwin, Devon Wylie
OT: Branden Albert, Eric Winston
OG: Jon Asamoah, Ryan Lilja
OC: Rodney Hudson
TE: Tony Moeaki, Kevin Boss

Notable Depth - RB Cyrus Gray, RB Dexter McCluster, FB Shane Bannon, OG Jeff Allen, OT Donald Stephenson, OT David Mims, WR Terrance Copper, WR Junior Hemingway

Scott Pioli has been surrounding Matt Cassel with talent, he put a lot of emphasis on the improving the offensive line in the offseason and drafted some more speedy weapons. However, Is it enough talent to curb the potential loss of Dwayne Bowe?

Dwayne Bowe has caught passes for 4,927 yards in the five season that he has played for the Kansas City Chiefs. Just to put that into perspective: Steve Breaston (3,313), Jonathan Baldwin (254), Terrance Copper (939), Devon Wyle (0), Dexter McCluster (537), Jeremy Horne (0) and Junior Hemmingway (0) have a combined 5,043 career reception yards.

There are always questions with inexperience, that group may excel without Dwayne Bowe out there drawing double and triple coverage. However, most likely, if Dwayne Bowe doesn't play with the Chiefs this season, the offense will suffer.

July 15, 2012 is that magic day coming up, if Dwayne Bowe doesn't sign a new long term contract by that date, or the Kansas City Chiefs simply don't offer him one, Chiefs Nation may all find out those answers.

To make fans feel a little better, Joel Thorman of Arrowhead Pride, has this direct quote from Dwayne Bowe:

AP: "Tamba was out for a while last year, too. Are your teammates trying to get you to come back?"

Bowe: "I talk to all the guys. They know the process. Everybody's ready for me to come back and I'm waiting too, so it's just a waiting game."

AP: "So, training camp, you'll be there?"

Bowe: "Yeah."

AP: "Cool."

Bowe: "I love St. Joe, man. The fans line the field just like this. I signed every day for 30 days. It was like, when they see me out at the Wal-Mart, it's nothing but love. I've never seen fans like Kansas City that's so dedicated and so honored."

Dwayne Bowe says he will be at training camp. Will he arrive under the franchise tag or a new long term contract offered by Scott Pioli? That is the question.