Tony Gonzalez to be a free agent this offseason

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Per Jay Glazer of foxsports.com via profootballtalk:

CHIEFS WON'T FRANCHISE GONZALEZ

Word out of Kansas City is that the Chiefs won't place the franchise tag on tight end Tony Gonzalez, who is expected to void the final two years of his current contract after the 2006 season and become a free agent.

Jay Glazer of FOX reported on Sunday that Gonzalez can leave Kansas City after the season if he so chooses. The rest of the "real" media, however, has ignored the story.

Although the franchise tender for tight ends is low (it was only $3.3 million for 2006), the CBA states that the amount that the team must put on the table to trigger the franchise rights (i.e., first refusal on any other offers and compensation in the amount of two first-round draft picks) is either the average of the top five salaries at the position or 120 percent of the player's salary for the prior year, whichever is greater.

And although some league insiders believe that "salary" means Paragraph 5 base salary only, it actually means the player's full cap number, which is base salary plus bonus proration and any other payments made in a given season.

In Gonzalez's case, we've learned that his cap number for 2006 is $6.53 million. Thus, the Chiefs would be required to offer Gonzalez $7.83 million in order to hold his rights for 2007.

Given the magnitude of the number, we're told that the Chiefs won't use the tag on Gonzalez.

Moving forward, our guess is that Gonzalez will become a free agent in March 2007, and that he will strongly consider leaving for another team if he gets an offer significantly higher than what the Chiefs will pay.

The Redskins can always be counted on to throw cash at a recognizable name. The Raiders are an intriguing possibility, given that Gonzalez played college ball at Berkeley. Other potential destinations (in our view) include the Jets, the Texans, the Vikings, the Lions, the Panthers, the Saints, and the Seahawks.


Obviously, it seems like this would be a perfect fit. It would allow us to use a two TE set effectively, and although Cooley's production would certainly get cut, it seems like the kind of move that could help a young QB like Jason Campbell, and could help open holes for CP in the running game, even though Gonzo isnt the best blocking TE.