The Kansas City Chiefs made it official and announced that the franchise tag has been applied to receiver Dwayne Bowe. No surprise there -- we all figured this would happen.
The Chiefs issued a statement with a quote from GM Scott Pioli about Bowe getting the tag, and I found it interesting what that statement didn't say.
"Today was the league's deadline to designate a franchise player and we felt it was in the best interest of the Kansas City Chiefs to place the tag on Dwayne," said General Manager Scott Pioli.
Nowhere in that statement does it say anything about the two sides working on a longterm contract. I bring this up because of how it looks when you compare it to the statement the Chiefs issued last year when announcing Tamba Hali had received the franchise tag:
"Tamba is a key contributor to our football team, and we have a tremendous amount of respect for him both personally and professionally," General Manager Scott Pioli said. "We want Tamba to remain a member of the Chiefs, and we will continue to work together with the hope of reaching a long-term agreement."
You see how the Tamba statement clearly says the Chiefs want him to remain in KC and that they want to do a longterm deal? And how the Bowe statement doesn't say anything like that? I'm not sure if this means anything but I felt it was interesting enough to point out.
I think official statements like this are subject to a higher level of scrutiny because this isn't an off-the-whim radio interview we're talking about. Some thought went into this.
I would still guess the two sides are aiming for a longterm deal. Just an interesting tidbit I noticed about that statement. Hopefully it doesn't mean anything and the two sides get together and do a deal.