Chiefs expected to offer one-year tender to restricted free agent Daniel Sorensen
The Chiefs are expected to tender restricted free agent Daniel Sorensen, a source told The Star on Tuesday.
The transaction would allow the Chiefs to match any offer Sorensen, a safety who played 48.7 percent of the Chiefs’ defensive snaps in 2017 as a dime linebacker, might receive from another team when free agency starts Thursday.
If Sorensen receives an offer from another team and the Chiefs decline to match it, they would receive a either a first or second-round draft pick from that team, depending on the tender level. If Sorensen is given an original-round tender by the Chiefs, they won’t receive draft pick compensation because he was signed as an undrafted free agent.
Clubs have until 3 p.m. Thursday to officially tender restricted free agents. It’s not known which tender level the Chiefs will choose for Sorensen.
Sorensen, 27, just completed his third season. He recorded career highs with 63 tackles, six pass deflections, three interceptions and two forced fumbles as Husain Abdullah’s replacement in dime subpackages. Sorensen also continued his work as a core special-teams player, logging 81 percent of the defensive snaps one year after he was chosen as a special teams captain for the Chiefs’ 2016 playoffs.
Restricted free agents are players with three years of accrued service time, so if Sorensen doesn’t land any offers on the open market and signs the Chiefs’ one-year tender, he will become a free agent next offseason.
The Chiefs have two other restricted free agents in receiver Albert Wilson and kicker Cairo Santos.
Terez A. Paylor: 816-234-4489, @TerezPaylor. Download Red Zone Extra, The Star’s Chiefs app.
This story was originally published March 7, 2017 at 12:16 PM with the headline "Chiefs expected to offer one-year tender to restricted free agent Daniel Sorensen."