Kansas City Chiefs: Looking back at Jeremy Maclin’s brief time in KC

Former Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Jeremy Maclin announced his retirement over the weekend. He had a nice career that was plagued by injuries throughout.

In 2007 and 2008, wide receiver Jeremy Maclin was tearing it up for the Missouri Tigers. Of course Kansas City Chiefs fans would have loved for the team to draft him, but that didn’t happen.

Maclin ended up being a first round pick by the Eagles in the 2009 NFL Draft and spent the next six years (five seasons) in Philadelphia with Andy Reid, who was still the head coach there. Maclin compiled 4,771 yards during those five seasons with the Eagles.

Maclin’s final year in Philadelphia came in 2014 and when he hit free agency, there was hope amongst Chiefs Kingdom that the Missouri product would come on home. Not only did they have the home state argument, but Reid, the coach he drafted him in 2009, was now with the Chiefs. Maclin eventually signed with the Chiefs on a five-year deal worth $55 million.

It was a move that seemed worth the tampering accusation the Chiefs were slapped with and lost a draft pick from as a result. Maclin provided a legitimate number one wide receiver for KC and after not having a wideout haul in a single touchdown pass in 2014, this was a much needed signing.

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Maclin had a wonderful inaugural season with the Chiefs, catching 87 passes for 1,088 yards and eight touchdowns and appearing in 15 regular season games. He was the wide receiver the Chiefs had been missing during Alex Smith‘s early years with the franchise and his presence showed big time.

Year two, which ended up being the final year of Maclin’s Chiefs tenure, was disappointing. The former Tiger wound up with just 44 receptions for 536 yards and two touchdowns. It was a huge drop-off from the season prior and injuries definitely were a reason for the decrease in production.

The drama with Jeremy Maclin started in the summer of 2017. Late on a Friday afternoon, it was announced that Maclin had been cut from the team. Later it was reported that then-current general manager John Dorsey had cut Maclin via voicemail. Not a good look at all.

That move might have singlehandedly cost Dorsey his job as Kansas City’s GM. Maclin was a big name and one of the Chiefs’ best offensive weapons (even with the down year in 2016), so to cut him was a big enough move. Cutting him on voicemail, however, was just unnecessary.

Sadly, it didn’t look like cutting him was such a bad idea after his lackluster 2017 campaign that he spent with the Ravens. Maclin had just 440 yards and three touchdowns and wouldn’t play in 2018. The announcement of his retirement isn’t shocking considering all of the injuries he’s piled up and the decline in production over the last few years of his career.

Looking back at Maclin’s career is interesting though. Here was this amazingly talented receiver who played for Missouri for two seasons. Him being a local product had at least half of Chiefs Kingdom rooting for him and when he signed with the Chiefs, it really was a dream come true for fans of both the Chiefs and Mizzou.

That first year made it look like Maclin was going to be a star in Kansas City for years to come, but that sadly wasn’t the case. It’s a shame that his Chiefs tenure ended the way it did, but overall, Jeremy Maclin had a nice pro career.