Kansas City Chiefs: Is it time for Dwayne Bowe to go?
By Nick Ziegler
The Kansas City Chiefs have a big offseason ahead of them, as with not a lot of cap room currently, they need to be wise with restricting some deals, and possibly letting some under-performing players go, such as wide receiver Dwayne Bowe.
One of the oddest things in the 2014 season was the fact that the Chiefs did not throw a touchdown pass to a wide receiver all season, and in what has become a total passing league that is astonishing.
The Chiefs’ No. 1 WR last season, and for many seasons since being drafted has been Bowe. The Chiefs selected him out of LSU with the 23rd pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, and he had an impact right away in the NFL.
In his rookie season, Bowe caught 70 passes for 995 yards with five TD, which were both Chiefs rookie records. Bowe followed up the great rookie season with a great 2008 season, as he caught 86 passes, which resulted in 1,022 receiving yards.
2009 would be a disappointing one for Bowe, as he had some off the field issues with substances, which led to a four-game suspension. With the four-game suspension, Bowe played in just 11 games, and that resulted in making just 47 catches for 589 yards.
After a disappointing 2009 season, Bowe would get right back on track with two straight seasons of over 1,000 yards receiving in 2010, and 2011.
2012 was a down one for Bowe, as the franchise tag was placed on him, and then he held out for five months. An injury at the end of the season kept Bowe from possibly finishing with a third-straight 1,000-yard season, as he finished with 801 yards in 13 games.
In that offseason, Bowe would get the contract that he wanted, as the Chiefs and Bowe agreed to a five-year $56 million deal, which has turned out to be a big disappointment for the Chiefs.
Since signing the big contract Bowe has had less than 1,400 yards receving, with five TD in the last two years combined, which is nowhere near the production needed to warrant the amount he is being paid in his contract.
Next season Bowe is due $11 million with just under $2 million guaranteed, which means that letting go Bowe is a real strong possibility. It is likely that if Bowe is playing with the Chiefs next season it will be at a far different salary number, as he is not nearly worth the double-digits he is set to make.
Cap-wise the Chiefs aren’t in the greatest of situations, and one of their biggest tasks of the offseason will be trying to re-sign the NFL’s leader in sacks in the 2014 season, Justin Houston.
Last season Houston nearly broke the NFL’s sack record with 22 sacks last season that is held by Michael Strahan at 22.5 sacks. After seeing the money that Houston Texan’s J.J. Watt and St Louis Rams’ Robert Quinn made, Houston is looking at a big pay day, and for that to happen the Chiefs will need to let people go.
There will be options available for the Chiefs to look at if they decide to let Bowe go without trying to restructure his deal to a lower number, and they also like their young receiver Albert Wilson, who was a rookie last season.