KC Chiefs: Would Jeremy Maclin Be A Good Option

The KC Chiefs need help at the wide receiver position, which was evident with the lack of wide receiver touchdowns in 2014. Free agency might be the best way to go as far as getting a number one receiver and one of the best free agent wide receivers on the market is Jeremy Maclin.

Jeremy Maclin has spent his entire career with the Philadelphia Eagles and was actually drafted by Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid. Reid and company drafted Maclin in the first round in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star recently covered seven free agents who would be good fits in Kansas City and Maclin was one of them. Paylor had this to say about the former Missouri Tiger standout,

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"Former first-round pick who made 85 catches for 1,318 yards and 10 touchdowns in 16 starts after missing all of 2013 with a torn ACL in his right knee. Still has downfield speed — created several big plays this year in which he ran past secondary defenders. Can track the deep ball and serve as a vertical threat. Extensive injury history is a concern but there’s no doubt he’d fit in Kansas City — Chiefs coach Andy Reid was Philadelphia’s coach when the Eagles selected him in the first round. But Maclin has said he wants to return to Philly and Philly has said it wants him back.– Articles linked courtesy of Bob Grotz of Montgomery Media and Zach Berman of Philly.com"

As Paylor mentioned above, Maclin missed all of 2013 with an ACL injury, but bounced back in a huge way this past season. He proved to be a reliable target for Mark Sanchez and could easily do the same thing for Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs.

The thing to keep in mind as far as getting a guy like Maclin is (assuming he doesn’t return to Philadelphia) that the Chiefs don’t have a ton of money to spend on free agents. If they want to get Jeremy Maclin, they’ll have to plan to release some of the bigger names on their roster, such as Dwayne Bowe and Tamba Hali.

As far as Bowe goes, the Chiefs have a few different options. They can keep him for $14 million, cut him for the $9 million hit in dead money, OR the team can try to restructure Bowe’s deal. I’ve never been a big fan of Dwayne Bowe and would love to see the team go after either Maclin or Randall Cobb, but I wouldn’t be surprised in the least bit if Bowe was willing to restructure his deal since he’s already making more money than he should be (just my opinion though).

Paylor’s article had a segment on the money for each free agent (Joel Corry, a cap analyst and former agent helped him out with that) and here is what he said about Jeremy Maclin,

"“They paid him $5.5 (million) on a one (year deal) coming off an injury, and they paid DeSean $9.7 million a year a couple years ago with escalators and incentives that took it over $10 million. I could easily see him going Look, you got rid of DeSean because you thought I could be your number one. That deal is two or three years old. So I want $25 million guaranteed and $10 million per year is what his agent will look for to stay…for Kansas City, if I want to go there, I’m asking for Bowe money if you want me to be the (No. 1) receiver. Because you’ve been paying him No. 1 money to perform like a No. 2.”"

Would you want to see the Kansas City Chiefs sign Jeremy Maclin?

Next: Wide Receivers Chiefs Should Look At In 2015 Draft

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