Dwayne

Bowe

The numbers reported by NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora are $19.6 million with a $4 million signing bonus. It’s starter money, and makes it likely that the Chiefs will let free agent CB Brandon Carr break the bank on the open market. Expect Dwayne Bowe to get the franchise tag. Routt, who turns 29 before the season, is a press-man corner and fits Romeo Crennel’s scheme. While he allowed too many touchdown passes (8) and committed too many penalties (17) last year, Routt posted career highs in interceptions (4) and pass breakups (15). Pro Football Focus graded Routt as the NFL’s 19th-best corner in terms of coverage. While Carr will command more money, PFF had him 21st.

Miller missed every day of practice this week. He finished with just one catch for eight yards in Week 8 while trying to play through the injury. The Raiders had hoped he would play against the Chiefs, but it’d be sensible to hold Miller out this week and into a Week 10 bye to get him healthy. Raiders-Chiefs has a 4:15ET start, so Miller isn’t worth waiting for in fantasy leagues. Asomugha definitely won’t play, improving Dwayne Bowe’s fantasy matchup.

You are forgiven if you had assumed 34-year-old Bowe was already long retired. Released by the Browns in March 2016, Bowe had not seen the field since 2015, where he caught five passes in seven games as a Brown. The owner of a truly strange career arc, Bowe found the end zone 44 times in 125 games. He averaged 13.4 yards per catch and posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2010-11, crossing the 1K threshold three total times. The bad vibes of Bowe’s later career have probably led to the underrating of his early career.

Bowe caught a deep in-pattern and then got pushed from behind by Antonie Cason. Strong safety Steve Gregory was right there to give Bowe a big shot to the abdomen. Bowe was down for several moments and then walked off slowly under his own power. Keary Colbert came on briefly, but Bowe was back after a few plays on the sideline.

Bowe’s touchdown was a beautiful toe-tapper at the edge of the end zone early in the third quarter. The alarming thing is that in the first half, Bowe had zero targets as Matt Cassel dinked-and-dunked his way into a hole. Bowe gave owners a scare in the fourth quarter after a big hit over the middle from S Steve Gregory, but he quickly came back into the game. The “injury” is not a concern.

Kansas City dominated second-half time of possession, and Bowe consistently won his matchup with Jacob Lacey on the outside. Bowe broke a pair of tackles on his 41-yard touchdown in the second quarter after a short catch, using his RAC ability to dance into the end zone. Bowe simply out-physicaled Lacey for a five-yarder in the fourth. The Chiefs enter their Week 6 bye coming off a two-game winning streak in a still wide-open AFC West.

Bowe played much better than his stats appear. He came up one inch short of a touchdown in the first half and worked over underrated corner Stanford Routt all day. In a contract year, Bowe’s newfound consistency combined with dominant athletic skill set is impressive. He’s a must-start weekly going forward.

Bowe is “loving” the Chiefs’ free agency signings and is “excited” about the upcoming season. He has until July 16 to sign a long-term deal before playing out the year on the tag. Although he wouldn’t commit to attending OTAs, Bowe doesn’t sound like a threat to hold out of training camp.

Drew Brees, Matt Forte, Ray Rice, and Wes Welker are also expected to sit out. According to NFL Network’s Jason LaCanfora, it would take an “unforeseen degree of progress in talks over the weekend” to get any of them signed to long-term deals in time for OTAs. Tyvon Branch and Josh Scobee of the Raiders and Jaguars respectively, have already skipped their new coaches’ workouts begun last week.

La Canfora’s story disputes a report from Profootballtalk. Bowe was believed to be worried about having his guaranteed salary revoked, particularly if the Chiefs used a first- or second-round pick on a wide receiver. Bowe wants a long-term contract, and his demands are rumored to be outlandish.