season.That performance made the franchise tag a palatable option.“Obviously, Dee is a player that has done so much for us, in p

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is reporting the Chiefs may move Ford for a second-round pick."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Kansas City Chiefs NewsOpen ThreadsFull ArchiveLibrary Community GuidelinesContact InformationOdds Shop About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub 鉁旵hiefs free agency 2019Making sense of the Dee Ford rumors with two theoriesNew Juan Thornhill Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys ,291commentsNFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is reporting the Chiefs may move Ford for a second-round pick.CSTShareTweetShareShareMaking sense of the Dee Ford rumors with two theoriesNFL Network’s Ian Rapoport joined Good Morning Football Tuesday morning to discuss Chiefs linebacker Dee Ford, who the team officially tagged Monday.Well, that’s a lot to unpack, isn’t it?The Chiefs officially tagged Ford as a linebacker on Monday, committing to $15.44 million on what would be a one-year deal for the 2019 season. According to Matt Derrick of Chiefs Digest, the tag is non-exclusive, meaning Ford could sign an offer sheet with another club. At that point, the Chiefs could match such an offer or receive two future first-round picks for his services.The decision to use the non-exclusive appears to match the rumors from Rapoport regarding the Chiefs’ willingness to move the rights to Ford. Wanting to move the cap number ($15.44 million) is not the surprise here. The surprising part is that the part about the compensation—a second-rounder for Ford, a top-five NFL pass rusher.From Chiefs general manager Brett Veach’s comments at the NFL Scouting Combine, I believe that whether it be by trade or release, Justin Houston’s days as a Chief are numbered. Houston’s departure would free up about $14 million in cap space. I always thought one of the players mentioned above would be gone at the beginning of 2019, but not both. To the takes...Theory one: The Chiefs have no intention of trading Ford but rather saving money.The Chiefs are floating out to news-breakers that Ford may be a better fit for a 3-4 defense. This makes little sense, considering defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has downplayed defensive scheme this offseason and it is something Andy Reid has done in the past. Spagnuolo went as far as joking about the Chiefs “running the 5-6.” It’s possible the Chiefs may be floating out rumors about trading Ford while mentioning scheme to ensure Ford stays tagged as a linebacker rather than a 4-3 defensive end Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys 2019 , where he played at Auburn. Historically, the tag is determined by the position in which the player took the most snaps previously, but Ford could still make the case he should be tagged as a defensive end in a new scheme. There is no reason his agent shouldn’t be pushing for this. If they got their (hypothetical) way, Ford would make $17.13 million for the season, about$1.69 million more. Since the Chiefs are already up against the cap with significant signings looming for 2019 and beyond, they need to save every dollar they can. The league settled on a hybrid tag for Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs 11 years ago, something they would like to avoid.Theory two: The Chiefs would actually accept a second-rounder for Ford, which would be a mistake (from the outside looking in).Perhaps, the Chiefs are comfortable building a new-look defense around the 24-year-old Chris Jones, who finished with 15.5 sacks in a breakout season in 2018. Word is the Chiefs have made Jones a 2019 offseason priority.Ford led all edge defenders with 77 pressures in 2018, besting Bears linebacker Khalil Mack’s 73. Ford also had a career-high 13.0 sacks.But it should be noted that teams treat Mack and Ford differently when it comes to double teaming and attention. While this year’s NFL Draft is strong when it comes to the EDGE position, moving Ford would be a significant risk. Trading someone with comparable numbers to Mack would be almost as silly as trading Mack.There could be more here—maybe the Chiefs want to free up money and go all-in by making another free-agent offensive splash while relying upon Jones, Breeland Speaks and a young supporting cast led by Spagnuolo.And that is the rub of speculation season. We try to make sense of the scribbles without any sense of the blueprint. The Kansas City Chiefs are placing the franchise tag on outside linebacker Dee Ford after the best season of his career Juan Thornhill Jersey Cheap , though that could be just the first step in their dealings with him.The decision was made on Saturday, a person familiar with it told The Associated Press, three days before the league’s deadline for franchising players. But the Chiefs have discussed signing Ford to a long-term deal, and they are open to trade possibilities as they switch their base defenses.The person spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity because the move was not finalized as the paperwork awaited filing. ESPN.com was first to report the Chiefs had made the decision.The franchise tag for an outside linebacker next season is just over $15.4 million, a number the Chiefs could easily fit under the salary cap. But general manager Brett Veach has made it clear since taking over last year that he is open to making any moves that help the overall club.That could mean a long-term contract — the deadline for doing that with a franchise player is July 15 — or trading away one of the league’s top pass rushers.“He had an outstanding season. He was at the top of his game,” Veach said during his year-end discussion with reporters. “When we drafted Dee a few years ago, all those things that we envisioned for him, he kind of showed that he was that player.”But that also came in former defensive coordinator Bob Sutton’s scheme, which is built around a 3-4 base. The Chiefs fired Sutton after an AFC West-winning season culminated in an overtime loss to the Patriots, and hired Steve Spagnuolo to implement a 4-3 scheme.“The one thing he can do, and we all know this, he is an explosive football player that makes a lot of plays,” Spagnuolo said recently. “He’s had some production and if he is here with us Juan Thornhill Jersey Womens , I’ll be excited to have him and be excited to work with him.”Ford was the Chiefs’ first-round pick in 2014 out of Auburn, but he struggled with injuries and the adjustment to the NFL his first couple seasons. He only played in six games with two sacks in 2017, but had a career-best 13 sacks and forced seven fumbles this past season.That performance made the franchise tag a palatable option.“Obviously, Dee is a player that has done so much for us, in particular last year,” Veach said. “We have a special thing brewing here and I think everyone wants to keep this thing rolling.”The Chiefs also have a decision to make with fellow outside linebacker Justin Houston, who had nine sacks in 12 games last season. He carries a salary cap hit of $21.1 million, a number the Chiefs would like to drive down either by restructuring his deal or potentially releasing him.“I would say that he’s under contract for this year and next year,” Veach said at the NFL’s scouting combine this week. “Again, our plan is to play with him and we look forward to having him on our roster. There’s a lot of dialogue and I think everything is fluid for the next few weeks until we get into the start of the league year. We’ll kind of handle that — the information we get, what’s real, what’s not real — and it’s a good problem to have because he’s a great player.”