Chiefs make Jeremy Maclin signing official

In the midst of a monster contract season for the Philadelphia Eagles, Jeremy Maclin says he did not pay much attention to the Chiefs’ well-publicized touchdown-less streak from their wide receivers.

But the star receiver, who was officially introduced as a Kansas City Chief on Wednesday, certainly was aware that it was going on.

“You hear about it on ESPN, but there’s a lot of fluke stuff that happens ... a wide receiver fumbling on the 1-yard line or getting tripped up,” Maclin said, noting two instances that actually happened to the Chiefs in 2014. “There’s a lot of stuff that goes into it.

“Hopefully I can score at least one next year,” he added with a chuckle.

The Chiefs, it’s safe to say, expect that and far more from Maclin, who has signed a five-year deal worth an average of $11 million per season — including $22.5 million in guarantees and a first-year cap hit of $3.4 million, according to cap analyst Joel Corry — to upgrade a middling receiving corps.

“Anytime you can get a player like this, it’s very rare,” Chiefs general manager John Dorsey said. “Jeremy, not only does he produce on the field, but he’s such a great person, and the age factor component for it is very special.”

Chiefs coach Andy Reid agreed and was noticeably upbeat about the addition of Maclin, who caught 85 passes for 1,318 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2014.

“He had 10 touchdowns last year, which is a beautiful thing,” Reid said with a grin. “Last year was a little bit of a freaky thing in this offense to not have any touchdowns by a wide receiver, but it’s what happened.”

In Maclin, who turns 27 this May, the Chiefs not only get an explosive playmaker just entering his prime — at their weakest position, no less — they also get a player with whom they have an unusual amount of familiarity for a free agent.

Back when Reid was in charge of the Eagles, he drafted Maclin in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft — one of only two the Eagles took at the position that early, along with Freddie Mitchell, during his entire 14-year tenure in Philadelphia — and coached Maclin for four years before he was fired in 2012.

“I’m reunited with coach Reid and some of the guys that were on staff in Philadelphia, which is something I never dreamed that could have happened,” Maclin said. “The fact that I’m in this situation is pretty awesome.”

Not that Reid wasn’t sweating bullets the whole time.

“All along, we weren’t sure if he would leave Philadelphia,” Reid said. “That was a place where he had success, great coaching and a (good) offense. We knew they wanted him.

“It really wasn’t until we had a chance to talk to the agent (who we knew), and then you still have to wait to talk to the kid. As well as you know him, you can’t just call him. So you have to wait until Tuesday, and you’re going, ‘OK, we know there’s interest,’ but you can’t do the deal until time is right. ... So you’re really not sure until the end. That’s why everybody is so stinking excited.”

Maclin, a former Missouri Tiger, said he entered free agency with an open mind but always had a hunch he’d end up somewhere familiar.

“You listen (to offers), but in the back of my mind it was either I was going stay in Philadelphia or come to Kansas City,” Maclin said. “Both of those situations made sense, and Kansas City made more sense.

“I think with kind of my personality and kind of the way that I am, I think this fits me a little better. And then also coach Reid, (David) Culley, Doug (Pederson), a lot of guys who I had a chance to build relationships with in Philadelphia are here, and it just felt like home. It is home, and I am excited about that.”

Maclin, who grew up in Kirkwood — a suburb of St. Louis — said the decision to sign with the Chiefs was not about the money.

“(I’m) three hours from home, an hour and a half from where I went to college — it was kind of a no-brainer for me,” Maclin said.

“When you’re thinking about it, there’s opinions of certain people that matter more than others. Having an opportunity to come back home, and for my family to come see me, I thought this was best for me and my family.

“At the end of the day, they all said, ‘Do what’s best for you.’ But you can always get the hint of what they want you to do.”

Now the Chiefs stand to benefit in a big way. One of the pitfalls of free agency is the fact it can be hard to get a true assessment of a player’s character, and how he might fit in the locker room, from afar.

But with Maclin, there are no such issues, as Reid coached him in Philadelphia from 2009 until Reid was fired after the 2012 season.

Reid, obviously, landed on his feet in Kansas City, guiding the Chiefs to a 20-12 record the last two years and a playoff berth in 2013. But the whole time, the Chiefs have been missing an elite receiver, someone who can consistently stress defenses deep.

Donnie Avery had the speed, but the inconsistency was lacking; Dwayne Bowe had the reputation, but the speed wasn’t there. In Maclin, the Chiefs are betting they will get the best of both worlds, with a player with a proven track record whom they already know — and trust — quite well.

“All the success he’s had in this league, and it started right when he was a rookie, one of those few guys that stepped in as a rookie and played well,” Reid said. “That’s hard to do at that position, but he was able to do that.”

Maclin caught 56 passes for 773 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie in 2009, and averaged 64 catches, 863 yards and nearly seven touchdowns per season in his four years under Reid.

On the surface, those numbers aren’t that much higher than the averages the Chiefs’ last No. 1 receiver, Bowe, has posted — 58 catches, 713 yards and two touchdowns — in his two years under Reid.

But Reid is confident Maclin’s all-around skill set will bring plenty to the team.

“I think with time here, you’ll see even more than that,” Reid said. “With the leadership and the competitiveness on the field … (he’s) very intelligent … he’s a top-notch person and top-notch player.”

And while Maclin is expected to play the Z receiver position — the Jerry Rice position in the West Coast offense — Dorsey also touted his versatility.

“He has the physical skills to match the stuff the coaches talked about,” Dorsey said. “He’s an exceptional route runner, he has great flexibility, (and) he’s not just pigeonholed into the Z receiver — he can play multiple positions as we move forward here.”

Maclin, who will wear No. 19 — he says he didn’t even ask for No. 18 out of respect for Chiefs Hall of Famer Emmitt Thomas — will get plenty of opportunities to prove it over the next several years. According to Corry, the contract is structured in such a way that the Chiefs will be able to reasonably get out of it after the 2016 season.

But no one was thinking about that Wednesday. All anyone — the Chiefs and their fans alike — should have been thinking about were the myriad ways Maclin could help the team going forward, including whether he’ll be able to keep the Chiefs’ receiving corps from going zero-fer in touchdowns in future seasons.

At least one person thinks he will.

“I don’t think that will happen again,” Reid said. “I think we will be OK there.”

This story was originally published March 11, 2015 at 12:06 PM with the headline "Chiefs make Jeremy Maclin signing official."