The Kansas City Chiefs have decided to designate tight end Tony Gonzalez as their franchise player, a move which prevents him from becoming an unrestricted free agent on March 1st. The two sides will continue to try and negotiate a long-term deal, but should that fail Gonzalez is guaranteed a one-year contract worth 2.3 million dollars – the average salary of the five highest paid tight ends in the game. That is a result of being designated a franchise player.
