According to CBSSports’ Jason La Canfora, he “would be pretty surprised” to see Dwayne Bowe back in Kansas City after this upcoming season.
Monday saw the deadline for contract extensions come and go for NFL players that had the franchise tag placed on them. Among those players were Pro Bowl Kansas City Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe who did not get the long term deal done that he was seeking.
Bowe, 27, will be forced to play out the 2012 season with his one year tender worth $9.515 million, when he actually signs it. To date Bowe has not signed his franchise tag tender and may elect to sit out training camp which he can de without penalty because he is not technically under contract. While Bowe could grandstand the Chiefs and holdout to force a trade to another team there has been no reports to suggest that at this time.He will likely sign the tender and report to the team right before the regular season and avoid the grind of camp all together.
Looking ahead, Dwayne Bowe, 6’2, 221, would generate significant interest on the open market if he was allowed to become a free agent after the 2012 season. I feel there are three players that will be key in determining if the Vikings would be willing to get into the mix for Bowe’s services. Those players are Percy Harvin, Jarius Wright and Greg Childs and here is why.
Harvin’s desire to get paid along with whatever conflict he had/has with the Vikings has been well-documented. Harvin will be a free agent following the 2013 season but he has already come out and said that he won’t play out his current contract in 2013 and wants an extension. While GM Rick Spielman has seemingly downplayed this in the media the idea of trading Harvin has to have certainly crossed his mind. Harvin’s 2012 performance, both on and off the field, will go along way in determining whether the Vikings will give Harvin a big payday or not. Enter Jarius Wright.
Wright was drafted in round four of the 2012 NFL draft and has almost the same skill set of Percy Harvin. If Spielman feels that Wright can take over the slot position that Harvin excels in for a fraction of the cost of Harvin’s extension would likely cost then he would have to consider trading him. Harvin would likely bring a return of multiple picks and likely high ones with a healthy and productive 2012 season. So what does that have to do with Dwayne Bowe who doesn’t play the slot? Enter Greg Childs.
Childs, like comparing Wright to Harvin, has a very similar build and skill set to Dwayne Bowe. If Childs exceeds expectations and proves he still has the skills that once had him pegged as a first round talent the Vikings may not need to look at breaking the bank to sign a player like Bowe. Stephen Burton is another receiver on the roster that could push to earn significant time and has a skill set like Bowe.
But getting back to Harvin, the Vikings are a rebuilding team so they might not be wanting to bring on two massive contracts at receiver with Bowe and Harvin. If the Vikings decide to trade Harvin and insert Wright into the slot it would free up salary cap space where they could look at signing impact free agents. That is where the development of Greg Childs and Burton will factor into the offseason plans. If Childs can push to be a starter there is not a lot of reason to pay big for Bowe and they can focus on other positions of need.
Like a restocking the defensive unit.
