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The Kansas City Chiefs placed the franchise tag on outside linebacker Dee Ford on Monday Hakeem Butler Jersey , making official a decision the team had been leaning toward throughout the offseason.Ford is coming off the best season of his career, piling up 13 sacks and forcing an NFL-leading seven fumbles. The Chiefs have expressed an interest in a long-term deal, though they are also open to trading him as they switch from a 3-4 to 4-3 base defense under new coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.In other words, it’s no sure thing Ford plays next season under the roughly $15.4 million tag.The franchise tag gives the Chiefs until July 15 to agree on a long-term contract, but they may need to free up some additional salary cap space to do so. That’s because they have other pressing needs in free agency, not to mention a bevy of stars due to hit free agency soon.They would like to extend defensive tackle Chris Jones and wide receiver Tyreek Hill before next offseason, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes is eligible for an extension next year.“Obviously, Dee is a player that has done so much for us, in particular last year,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said recently. “We have a special thing brewing here and I think everyone wants to keep this thing rolling.”For his part, Ford called it a “no brainer” to sign the franchise tender.The Chiefs have certainly invested plenty in Ford after selecting him in the first round of the 2014 draft out of Auburn. He went through some growing pains as he adapted to life in the NFL, and he has an injury history that is cause for concern — and that makes the franchise tag a good option.Ford remains a high-risk Chris Lindstrom Jersey , high-reward kind of talent.“The one thing he can do, and we all know this, he is an explosive football player that makes a lot of plays,” said Spagnuolo, who was hired after the Chiefs lost to the Patriots in the AFC title game to turn around one of the league’s worst defenses. “He’s had some production and if he is here with us, I’ll be excited to have him and be excited to work with him.”The Chiefs are also considering what to do with fellow outside linebacker Justin Houston, who had nine sacks in 12 games last season. The veteran leader carries a salary cap hit of $21.1 million next season, and the Chiefs could free up a significant amount of money by trading or 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.”The problem is the Chiefs have little depth beyond Ford and Houston. Defensive end Breeland Speaks is a more natural fit in a 4-3 system, but he was only a bit player after the Chiefs selected him in the second round out of Ole Miss last year.That’s another reason why the franchise tag on Ford made sense.“I certainly think that we have a bunch of versatility along the line there. Justin and Dee, both of those guys can play in this scheme and do well http://www.falconsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-kaleb-mcgary-jersey ,” Veach said. “We like the pieces that are in place and we’re anxious to get this offseason started.” TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona Cardinals president Michael Bidwill went outside the traditional boundaries to find his new head coach, identifying Kliff Kingsbury as someone who can ignite the team’s moribund offense and mold Josh Rosen into a dynamic NFL quarterback.Kingsbury, with no NFL coaching experience and a losing record in six seasons at Texas Tech but a history of high-scoring offenses and prolific quarterbacks, was introduced as the Cardinals coach at a news conference at the team’s headquarters on Wednesday.Kingsbury called it “an incredible opportunity.”The reason for the hire, Bidwill made clear, is Kingsbury’s record as an innovative offensive coach.“Look at today’s NFL and you look at the college game, especially the last several years, has come into the pro game,” Bidwill said. “When you look at the output of his offenses, both when he was a coordinator in college and as a head coach, it’s really impressive Kendall Sheffield Jersey , the amount of points he puts up, where he positions his offenses. And you look at the six quarterbacks that he tutored and coached that have come into the National Football League.”Among those quarterbacks are Patrick Mahomes, Case Keenum, Johnny Manziel and Baker Mayfield, who played at Texas Tech before transferring to Oklahoma.Kingsbury believes he can incorporate the high-scoring system he had at Texas Tech into the NFL.“I think that’s going to be the exciting part for me,” he said. “You watch the trends in the NFL. College football infiltrated that. There’s a lot of similar concepts to what we’ve done on the college level that are being widely used and are really successful in the league right now. … I do think there are a lot of things we did at Texas Tech that can be successful.”The Cardinals ranked last in the NFL in every major offensive category last season, so Bidwill went after someone who could turn that around.“The most successful teams in the league are teams that have great offenses, top 10 offenses,” he said. “Those are the teams that are in the Super Bowls, win divisions. We wanted to hire a great offensive mind. We wanted to make sure that we hired someone with head coaching experience and weren’t particularly concerned if it was at the college or pro level.“One name that kept coming back to us over and over as one of the most innovative bright minds as an offensive play caller and as an offensive mind is Kliff Kingsbury.”Kingsbury was fired after compiling a 35-40 record in six seasons at Texas Tech and, just over a month ago, was hired as offensive coordinator at Southern Cal. When USC wouldn’t allow him to talk to NFL teams http://www.falconsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-john-cominsky-jersey , Kingsbury resigned and was interviewed by the New York Jets and Cardinals.“It’s been a whirlwind, I can say that,” he said. “When I took the job at USC I couldn’t be more thrilled to have that job. I thought it was an incredible opportunity with coach (Clay) Helton, Mr. Swann (athletic director Lynn Swann), that program, that tradition. But this is just an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”Kingsbury said his first order of business is building a staff, most significantly finding a defensive coordinator. He said he’s “leaned heavily” on Cardinals general manager Steve Keim in that process. Keim said the Cardinals will look to return to the 3-4 defensive scheme that they had in the Bruce Arians years. In its one season under coach Steve Wilks, Arizona switched to a 4-3 scheme and it never seemed to fit the personnel on hand.“I don’t think there’s any doubt that a veteran defensive coordinator would be ideal in this situation,” Keim said.Kingsbury said he has “some great candidates” for the job.“It will be an attacking style,” he said. “We want to be aggressive and get this defense back to where it’s been previous to last year.”Kingsbury said he’s talked to Rosen, who had a difficult rookie season behind an offensive line decimated by injury.“Josh Rosen is incredibly talented, one of the most talented throwers you’ll see Qadree Ollison Jersey ,” Kingsbury said, “a young player obviously that I’m excited to work with and develop. But as a pure thrower, it’s hard to find a guy that throws it better.”He said he wants to “get to know Josh, find out what makes him tick.”“I do think he wants to be a great player in this league,” Kingsbury said. “I think he’s very competitive. You watch him play this year, some of the shots he took and continued to get up, continued to fight. That says a lot about a young man so I’m excited to develop that relationship.”