Nick Piccone
On Friday night, the Kansas City Chiefs released Jeremy Maclin, much to the surprise of reporters, fans, and Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith. Almost instantaneously, thoughts of the Eagles reuniting with Maclin began to stir. I’m not going to lie – I thought about it, too. After a “miscommunication” with Chip Kelly led to Maclin’s departure from Philly, it almost seemed like a reunion would never happen after the Chiefs gave Maclin a five-year, $55 million deal.
The Chiefs wound up only paying Maclin $23 million of that, and wound up cutting him after five OTA practices last week. Had to save money somehow, I guess. By multiple accounts, Maclin looked good in the OTA practices, and the Chiefs actually tried to trade him before settling on cutting him.
Sure, Maclin’s season last year statistically wasn’t good. In fact, it was his worst season of his career. But, sometimes that happens. The Eagles signed Torrey Smith to a three-year deal after two pretty bad seasons in San Francisco. So, naturally, there were many questions related to a potential reunion between the Eagles and Maclin.
Joe Dolan (@FG_Dolan) of SiriusXM’s Fantasy Sports Tonight and Jeff Johnson (@JeffJohnsonFI) of Fantasy Insiders talked about Maclin’s possible landing spots Saturday night, and one potential landing spot hurt particularly worse than the others.
“I think that Dallas is a great fit, as well. They need a number two wide receiver opposite of Dez Bryant. They’re not the same type of receiver. Allow Cole Beasley to be that slot guy, and you have your top three receivers. This is great for Dak Prescott. It’s great to alleviate some pressure from Dez Bryant and Cole Beasley can do his thing there in the flats. So I think that would be a great fit, as well.”
Ugh. I mean, Maclin’s a guy that hasn’t exactly divided the Eagles’ fan base, so if he came into The Linc with a Cowboys jersey on, I’m not sure what the reaction would be in 2017. I think there would be a lot of fans more accepting of him, given how likable he was during his time in Philly.
But seeing him with that star on his helmet may just negate all positive feelings towards the wide receiver. Terrell Owens was in his prime when he was a Dallas Cowboy. He made it easy to hate him when he left the Eagles. But now that he’s basically retired, it’s easy to love him again for what he brought to the Eagles in 2004 and 2005.
In the interview, Dolan and Johnson also suggest Seattle, Baltimore, and Indianapolis are great landing spots for Maclin. I just don’t know if I’d be able to take him as a Dallas Cowboy.
You can listen to some of the segment below.
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You can follow Nick Piccone on Twitter (@nickpiccone) and e-mail him at [email protected]. Subscribe to his podcast on iTunes here and listen live on WildfireRadio.com every Friday at 6pm. Click here to read his pro wrestling articles on PhillyVoice. Follow Philly Influencer on Twitter (@PHL_Influencer), Facebook and Instagram.