Chiefs free agency 2013: KC wants to keep Dwayne Bowe, Branden Albert (...of course they do)

Kansas City Chiefs GM John Dorsey was asked on NFL Network earlier this week about Dwayne Bowe, who is scheduled to be a free agent, and he said, "Everybody knows he's a very talented player. We are in the final stages of putting our plans together with regards to not only free agency but our team as well. I believe when we get to the Combine we'll be ready to address those questions."

The Combine is a week away and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that the Chiefs have been talking to both Bowe and Branden Albert and that the Chiefs want to bring both of them back.

Which is ... not surprising. Of course the Chiefs want Bowe and Albert back. That isn't the question we've all been trying to answer.

Rapoport said in his report that "everyone assumed Bowe would be leaving Kansas City" ... No, they didn't. The Kansas City Star, the largest media outlet in town, has consistently said it's hard to see a scenario where the Chiefs let Bowe walk. The way to say that is that no one has any clue what the Chiefs are going to do. We still don't. That the Chiefs want to keep Bowe isn't the big news that you think it is.

Rapoport tacked onto his report that the Chiefs also want Albert back. But the focus of the report was on Bowe.

The question has been whether the Chiefs can sign them to a contract that works for both sides. We didn't doubt that the Chiefs wanted them back.

Financially, the Chiefs have a ton of flexibility. They're currently sitting on $14ish million in salary cap space. Cutting Matt Cassel isn't the boom in salary cap space you think it is -- it would create less than $6 million in space. The real salary cap treasure is Tyson Jackson, who's release will more than double the Chiefs current cap space.

So it's been established that the Chiefs want them back. The next question, as it has been all along, is what kind of money Bowe and Albert are truly seeking. Bowe probably wants big money, as most free agents do, especially first time free agents. It's been reported that Albert wants top five left tackle money.

So this Bowe/Albert stuff isn't really news, which brings me to my next head-scratcher: Why is this being reported right now?

I love playing the game of figuring out where the information is coming from (even though I'm sure that's probably against some sort of journalism rule, whoops!), especially in free agency when these games are being played. The information came from someplace, which probably means someone wanted it out there. Who is that? And what is their motivation? Bowe's camp? The Chiefs' camp?