Report: Dee Ford Receives Franchise Tag from Chiefs; Could Still Be Traded

Pass-rusher Dee Ford is one step closer to remaining with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019 after reportedly being placed under the franchise tag.

Albert Breer of The MMQB reported the move was made official on Monday after ESPN's Adam Schefter first reported the news on Saturday. Schefter added that the Chiefs "plan" to play with Ford under the franchise tag next season, but they will listen to trade offers after switching to a 4-3 scheme under new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

The 27-year-old is coming off the best season of his career, setting personal bests with 13 sacks and 55 tackles. He also led the NFL with seven forced fumbles while earning his first Pro Bowl selection.

Though he earned a significant amount of blame for the AFC Championship Game loss to the New England Patriots when he lined up offsides on what would have been a game-sealing interception, he was one of the Chiefs' most important players throughout the season and a major reason the team reached that point.

This represented a major bounce-back after back problems limited him to just six unproductive games in 2017.

The 2014 first-round pick had struggled with consistency in his career, totaling 17.5 sacks in his first four seasons with just one year of more than four.

The Chiefs still picked up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract, paying him $8.7 million in 2018, per Spotrac, and he more than lived up to expectations as one of the few reliable options on an otherwise terrible defense.

After a 12-4 season and a trip to the AFC Championship Game, the Chiefs should have high expectations in 2019 behind Patrick Mahomes and an elite offense. However, the team will need to improve the defense that allowed the second-most yards in 2018.

Keeping Ford will go a long way to pair with Chris Jones in the front seven, but the team will need more additions to be competitive on that side of the ball next season.

Using Ford as a trade chip will also allow the team to address some of those issues if they deem any potential offers to be acceptable.