Why do the Kansas City Chiefs need Jeremy Maclin’s cap space?

The surprising release of Jeremy Maclin creates $10 million in cap space for a team that likely has some plans for it, but for what?

The Kansas City Chiefs surprised the NFL with the release of Jeremy Maclin on Friday. The team’s No. 1 wide receiver was only two years into a five-year deal signed in 2015, so it’s hard to see why the team would have planned this move for quite some time. Instead, it’s easy to wonder whether or not the team had been frustrated by Maclin’s recent slip in stats and had reason to believe that maybe his presence wasn’t needed after all, or at least at that amount of money.

Maclin signed a five-year, $55 million deal in 2015, which means the Chiefs are still too close to the signing to enjoy the best financial exit from the deal. Yet by releasing Maclin after June 1, the Chiefs will save $10 million per Over The Cap and have $2.4 million in dead money.  It’s clear the Chiefs wanted to create that level of cap savings in order to do something with it, but therein lies the question. What exactly is John Dorsey going to do by releasing Maclin?

It’s hard to imagine any sort of addition that makes the loss of Maclin worth it. The offense had issues moving the chains last season already without losing the guy who knows the route tree the best, and it’s not as if Albert Wilson, Jehu Chesson and even Chris Conley are going to force any defenses to respect them—at least not for a bit.

The Chiefs still have yet to sign their first few draft picks: Patrick Mahomes, Tanoh Kpassagnon and Kareem Hunt.

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What’s odd is that the Chiefs could have made up that total by releasing any number of other players who play much smaller roles for the team, including fullback Anthony Sherman, back-up quarterback Tyler Bray or even back-up offensive linemen like Jah Reid. The idea that Maclin had to go in order to sign the rookies simply doesn’t tell the entire story.

Are the Chiefs clearing space in order to sign Dee Ford to a long-term extension? Maybe even to get a leg-up on doing the same for Marcus Peters (even though he’s only in year three)? Such an extension would be good news, of course, if it means locking up a young defensive talent, but surely the money is there next season as other larger contracts come off the books, including Alex Smith’s $20 million cap hit.

Is Dorsey planning another acquisition? Did he just want breathing room? Is Maclin’s on-field impact overblown for those of us outside of Arrowhead? Or did he just make a massive mistake? Only time will tell as we continue to follow the details of this move.

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