Interesting situation developing up in New England. The Patriots slapped the franchise tag on Wes Welker who in recent weeks has been publicly campaigning for a longterm contract. Just this week, after he signed his franchise tender, the Patriots receiver said that negotiations had actually "gotten worse". Greg A. Bedard of the Boston Globe wrote a story on the situation and reported that the Patriots weren't very pleased with Welker's public comments.
Bedard also writes this in his story for the Globe:
He potentially hurt his bargaining position by showing that his love of the game and his teammates overruled any desire to play hardball.
That, my friends, is why some players don't sign their franchise tender right away. This is a negotiation, nothing more and nothing less. Not signing the tender is the only source of leverage that the player has, and Welker lost all of his when he signed that tender.
So if you're wondering why Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe may not sign his tender for a while, this is a possible reason why. Bowe signing the tender and showing up leaves the Chiefs with little reason to increase their offer and hurry up to get a deal done.
If I'm a betting man, I'm putting a wager on Bowe remaining unsigned until training camp, at least. (I really hope I'm wrong, though.)