KC Chiefs: Should Team Consider Signing Riley Cooper

The KC Chiefs are in the free agency portion of the NFL offseason, and one name that they could be linked with is former Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper.

The Philadelphia Eagles released wide receiver Riley Cooper after six seasons of playing for them. Could this be a move that the KC Chiefs end up benefitting from?

Just think about it, Chiefs fans. Cooper was drafted in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft by none other than Andy Reid. The Chiefs need a second wide receiver option, and Reid has already brought in one of his former players in Jeremy Maclin. This could make sense for the team.

Cooper’s best season in the pros came during the first season in which Reid was gone (2013). He recorded 47 catches for 835 yards and eight touchdowns. Maclin was out for the entire year with an ACL injury, which could have ruined the Eagles’ chances that season, but Cooper stepped in admirably.

His production has dropped off the past two years though, as he’s accumulated 577 and 327 yards respectively and only a combined five touchdowns.

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The biggest problem with Cooper involved him making racial comments in the summer of 2013 while attending a Kenny Chesney concert. The comments forced head coach Chip Kelly (who was in his first season as the Eagles’ head coach) to ask Cooper to take time away from training camp.

When Cooper returned, he was named as one of the starters, and started all but one game that year. He flourished in Kelly’s first-year offense and was given a new contract as a reward (five years at $22.5 million). He only made it through two of those seasons, however, and now could be looking to reunite with the coach who drafted him six years ago.

While there hasn’t been much speculation as to where Cooper will wind up, Kansas City will likely be near the top of the lists due to needing another receiver and because of his history with Andy Reid.

During Reid’s tenure in Philadelphia, Cooper started ten games and recorded a total of 679 yards with five touchdowns. He wasn’t a dominating receiver then, but he’s had his fair share of good catches since then, and could be just the type of receiver the Kansas City Chiefs are looking for.

The interesting part of this will be about Cooper and Maclin’s relationship. During the 2014 season, Cooper made some comments about his decreased playing time. Cooper said at the time,

"“Maclin’s trying to get a contract so he’s probably not going to try and come out of the game”~~~“We want to sub as much as we can. It doesn’t matter who it is,” Cooper said Monday. “Hopefully, Maclin gets this thing done and he’ll probably be subbing just as much. We want guys out there every four plays. We we’re trying to rotate every four plays. I’ll be in for four or five depending on if we’re going tempo. Six, seven plays and then Huff goes in for two and then I go back in.”"

While the first quoted portion appeared to be a joke, the comment was blown up by everyone (as comments in sports often are), but Maclin didn’t find the humor in it.

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"“That was not a very smart thing for Coop to say,”"

Now the coaching staff of the Eagles at the time said there was nothing there, but it is something to be skeptical of. The Chiefs don’t want to do anything that’s going to upset Maclin, who joined the team last offseason and reunited with Reid. He went on to have a stellar season as a Chief, and finally gave the team a solid number one receiver.

So, to sum up, would Riley Cooper be a nice addition to the Chiefs? Yes, but it’s not worth doing so if there’s still beef between him and Maclin.

Next: Best Undrafted Free Agents in Chiefs History

Quoted portions provided by Jeff McLane of Philly.com and by John Gonzalez of CSN Philly.

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