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KC Chiefs: The Pain of Losing a Third Round Pick

By Leigh Oleszczak

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Last week, the KC Chiefs were punished for tampering during the free agency period in 2015. How badly does this hurt the organization?

When the Kansas City Chiefs first agreed to terms with wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, fans were stoked. Finally, the team would have a legitimate number one wide receiver and that stupid “no touchdown to a wide receiver” stat would be toast.

No one really thought much when rumors spread that both the Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins might have broken the rules with how they acquired their free agents. The Chiefs, of course, landed Maclin, and the Dolphins had come to terms with Ndamukong Suh on a large contract.

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Once a few weeks had passed, nothing more was said, and it was apparently thought to be swept under the rug.

Fast forward to the 2016 NFL free agency period and the Chiefs were wheeling and dealing on the first day that free agency opened up. They lost Jeff Allen and Tyvon Branch, but signed Mitchell Schwartz and re-signed Derrick Johnson and Jaye Howard.

Later on, they were hit with the news. The Chiefs had lost a third round draft pick this year and a sixth rounder next year due to tampering with the free agency process when communicating with Maclin.

I got on Twitter and turned on sports talk radio when the news hit, and a lot of people weren’t reacting how I’d expect them to. A lot were saying, “I’d totally give up a third rounder for Maclin!” or “It’s only a third rounder”.

The third round has been when the Chiefs seem to get a lot of their star players and taking that away really sucks.

ONLY A THIRD ROUNDER? Are you kidding me?

Yes, Jeremy Maclin is great, but the KC Chiefs didn’t give up a third round pick for him! They didn’t trade for him, they signed him. Was the phone call or whatever was done to communicate with him really necessary in bringing him here? Could they not have waited until it was legal to talk to him personally?

It sure sounded like Maclin was probably going to choose Kansas City anyway, due to the fact that he was raised in Missouri, attended MU, and had previously worked with Andy Reid in Philadelphia. The pieces were all there. The choice seemed clear.

With the Chiefs going and speaking to Maclin directly, they put themselves in a poor position, and have no one to blame but themselves.

Per Adam Teicher of ESPN on how exactly the Chiefs tampered,

"The Chiefs directly contacted Maclin, a potential free agent, during the negotiating window that preceeds the signing period. Teams are allowed to contact the agents for potential free agents during the negotiating window, but not the players themselves."

Had the Chiefs just spoken with Maclin’s agent, all would have been well.

To those knocking third round picks – Look at the past five drafts and see who the Chiefs selected in round three. Here they are:

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Those are all notable names for this team (even though one of them is no longer on the team, but still) and it just shows that the Chiefs have had a lot of success in round three lately.

This doesn’t even include guys like Jamaal Charles and, going even further back, Will Shields. The point being that the third round can still offer a lot of solid talent, and it hurts the KC Chiefs a lot not having a pick in round three.

Now the Chiefs are planning to appeal, and hopefully they’ll get their third round pick back, but for the time being, this punishment really sucks. The third round has been when the Chiefs seem to get a lot of their star players and taking that away really sucks.

Next: 15 Best First Round Picks EVER

How do you feel about the tampering charges? Do you think the Chiefs will win their appeal?

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