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To catch you up to speed, last Friday Chiefs GM John Dorsey said the Chiefs are still talking to Branden Albert and his reps about a new deal. But no one expects them to actually work out a deal because Albert has played well enough to the point where he can command a lot of money and the Chiefs don't have a lot of money to spare. It's one of those unfortunate financial realities teams have in a salary cap world.
So we all think Albert is going to hit free agency on March 11 and teams will be interested in him. That adds some context to this tweet from ESPN's Adam Schefter:
Don't be surprised if AZ and MIA have at least some level of interest in Chiefs OT Branden Albert, who's not expected to return to KC.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 25, 2014
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports the same.
Both teams make sense based on previous history. The Chiefs and Dolphins held trade discussions over Albert last year but couldn't come to an agreement on compensation. That signals some level of interest from Miami, who saw Albert turn in a Pro Bowl season last year. The Cardinals have long been a team rumored to have interest in Albert. I'm not even sure where those started.
The Bucs are another team that has come up in the free agency rumors surrounding Albert.
Of course, teams aren't supposed to be talking about other teams free agents yet. If you're caught, that's called tampering. Free agency starts on March 11 but from March 8-11 players will be allowed to negotiate (but not sign) with other teams.