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There has been a bubbling excitement here in Tennessee over the prospects of Eric Berry hitting the free agent market since he was drafted by the Chiefs for the last couple of years. The problem with that is the Chiefs are never going to actually let him hit the market. That was confirmed(ish) today by Ed Werder:
Current expectation is that unless they sign one of them next 48 hours, #Chiefs will franchise tag Eric Berry and let Dontari Poe be UFA
— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) February 27, 2017
The Chiefs would be crazy to just let Berry walk. We have known that all along, but we didn’t want to admit it.
It has also been reported that Berry has no intentions of playing under the franchise tag again in 2018. Is Berry prepared to sit some of the season if the two sides can’t work out a long-term deal? That remains to be seen. My guess is that they are able to work out a long term deal before camp opens in August.
The Titans wouldn’t have been in the first round safety market had they been able to bring in Berry. Now Jamal Adams and Malik Hooker could be very much in play.