Kansas City Chiefs: Franchise Tag Options Loom Large

Dontari Poe

The situation facing the Kansas City Chiefs with Dontari Poe isn’t nearly as clear as with Eric Berry. First off, Dontari Poe did not have nearly as strong a season as Berry did. Whether it was lingering back issues, injuries to talent around him, or something else entirely, Poe did not have a good year. It’s been noted by myself and several others now…something was off.

Secondly, the difference in money between a 3-4 and 4-3 defensive tackle is huge, but the Franchise Tag doesn’t differentiate between the two positions. That means Poe, as a 3-4 tackle, would get the same as a 4-3 tackle on the tag. That’s not good when you consider the highest paid 3-4 defensive tackle (Brandon Mebane) makes almost $10 million less per year than the highest paid 4-3 defensive tackle (Ndamukong Suh).

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that Dontari Poe’s agent is going to be willing to listen to any of that. On the free market, Poe could absolutely get a big time pay day from someone. So if the Chiefs want to keep their big man, they will have to pony up.

Joel Corry went on to guess that Dontari Poe could get a contract in the neighborhood of Michael Brockers‘s $11 million per year. That would still be pretty expensive, and I think it will be substantially more. I see the deal that Malik Jackson got from the Jaguars as the standard. It would be tough for the Chiefs to match that.