Thanks to the Kansas City Chiefs sudden release of wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, the WR-strapped Cleveland Browns could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of it.
Maclin, who was two years into a five-year $55 million deal, was abruptly cut Friday afternoon, after posting two touchdown catches, 536 yards receiving and 44 catches while making nearly $10 million.
The sudden cut of Maclin leaves the Chiefs with Tyreke Hill, Chris Conley and Albert Wilson, as the viable options in Kansas City.
How does this effect Cleveland?
Thanks to the uncertainty of Josh Gordon, the loss of Terrelle Pryor in free agency, and the inability of last year’s first-round pick Corey Coleman not showing an ability to stay healthy, Cleveland would be wise to go after Maclin.
With fellow veteran Kenny Britt, rookie tight end David Njoku and unproven second-year players such as Rashard Higgins, Ricardo Louis and Jordan Payton, adding a player of Maclin’s ability to take the top off of opposing defenses, would be an upgrade.
Not many opportunities come around for teams such as the Browns to add a Pro Bowl speedster like Maclin, who is universally revered as one of the fastest players in the NFL. Getting someone like Maclin to put across from Britt, Njoku and hopefully Coleman—and a mega-longshot in Gordon—would give Cleveland a borderline top-10 offense.
Depending on who is under center for Cleveland in projected starter Cody Kessler, Brock Osweiler and rookie DeShone Kizer, Maclin would benefit from having a quarterback with a quality arm take advantage of his 4.45 speed downfield
After making a trade to beef up a suspect secondary in trading for Jets safety Calvin Pryor and inking linebacker Christian Kirksey to a new four-year contract extension, Cleveland would be wise to invest in the still-speedy Maclin sooner rather than later.