Kansas City Chiefs: No Franchise Tag For Dontari Poe
By Ben Almquist
The Kansas City Chiefs have declined to use the Franchise Tag on defensive tackle Dontari Poe. Poe will now either sign a new deal or go to Free Agency.
The deadline for teams to exercise the Franchise Tag in 2017 has passed with no action from the Kansas City Chiefs. That means star defensive tackle Dontari Poe will now either sign a long-term deal with the Chiefs or hit Free Agency. Most signs seem to point towards the latter scenario being the most likely.
Leading up to this week, there had been a lot of speculation regarding the Franchise Tag in Kansas City. It is a tool that General Manager John Dorsey has not shied away from using in the past. That includes last season with Eric Berry, who some thought would get a second tag this year. Instead, the Chiefs locked Berry up to a long-term deal and chose to not use the tag on Dontari Poe.
The most likely outcome here is that Dontari Poe will hit Free Agency to test his market. I’ve talked before about this, and I believe that Poe will get a similar contract to that signed by Malik Jackson with Jaguars last year. Poe’s talent and name recognition will go a long way in the Free Agent landscape.
Chiefs officially decline to designate Dontari Poe as franchise player. Tag would have required tender offer of $13.387 million.
— Matt Derrick (@mattderrick) March 1, 2017
As for the Chiefs, there are still plenty of options open to them when it comes to the nose tackle position. Those options will certainly cost far less than the $13 million that a Franchise Tag for Dontari Poe would’ve cost. Of course, this position now jumps up in terms of importance as KC currently does not have a nose tackle under contract. Expect some sort of move in Free Agency to address that.
Next: Kansas City Chiefs: Five Players Likely To Get Contract Extensions
The Chiefs will continue to shape their roster for the future. Losing Dontari Poe isn’t ideal, but it is clearly a situation the team leadership felt they could live with. My two cents is that they are right. Poe was a dominant player early on, but has not been the same since dealing with back issues in 2015. Not using the Franchise Tag was likely the right decision.