Branden Albert makes it official, signs his Chiefs franchise tender

John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

Branden Albert is officially a member of the Kansas City Chiefs again now that he's signed his one-year franchise tender. This means Albert is now under contract. It also means the Chiefs can trade him if they so choose.

It's official.

#Chiefs make the announcement that LT Branden Albert has signed his one-year contract
— Adam Teicher (@adamteicher) March 21, 2013

Word came down earlier this week that Albert planend to sign the tender. In my humble opinion, that's the best move for him. He could've waited and used that as some sort of leverage to try and secure a long-term deal but signing the tender guarantees him $9.8 million this year no matter what, even if he gets hurt. So that's his money now.

So what else does this mean?

More:Trade Branden Albert? Chiefs will listen

1. Branden Albert will be at the Chiefs offseason program. Dwayne Bowe skipped all of this because he didn't sign his tender until the middle of preseason. But with Albert under contract, he is subject to fines if he doesn't participate in the mandatory portions of the Chiefs offseason program. In other words, he'll be there. Unless...

2. Branden Albert can now be traded. You can't trade a player who doesn't have a contract and until Albert signed that tender he wasn't under contract. So if the Chiefs want they can now trade Albert. Of course, the problem with trading him is that whoever gives up a high draft pick for him would want some sort of assurance that Albert will be there for the long-term.