The Kansas City Chiefs have moved their focus away from trading left tackle Branden Albert and are now trying to work out a long-term contract with him.
All sides now view the much-discussed trade of Albert to the Dolphins as “dead,” Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports, and that means the Chiefs’ best option left is to try to get a deal done to keep Albert in place for years to come.
Albert signed the one-year, $9.8 million franchise tender, so that will be his salary this year if he doesn’t come to terms on a new deal. He reportedly wants a contract similar to the four-year, $36 million deal left tackle Jake Long got with the Rams.
The trade of Albert to the Dolphins may never have been as close as previous reports indicated: According to Rapoport, the Dolphins never offered better than a third-round draft pick for Albert. The Chiefs wanted a second-round pick.
So now it looks like Albert will be the Chiefs’ left tackle and first overall pick Eric Fisher will be their right tackle. The only question is whether Albert is playing on a one-year deal or a long-term deal.