Chiefs part ways with WR Jeremy Maclin

In a surprise move, the Kansas City Chiefs cut wide receiver Jeremy Maclin Friday, freeing up about $10 million in cap space for the upcoming season.
Maclin showed excellent hands in 2015, dropping just 1 of 87 catchable passes that season, generating the lowest drop rate (1.14 percent) among all receivers that year.
2016 was a different story, though, as he finished just 62nd among qualifying wide receivers in yards per route run (1.39), while missing four games due to injury.
Maclin’s departure leaves the electric Tyreek Hill (2.30 yards per route run in 2016, fourth among receivers) as the team’s top receiver, to go along with Chris Conley and Albert Wilson. Conley’s 1.03 yards per route run were 12th-worst among his position group, while Wilson’s 0.60 from the slot were second-worst.
The Chiefs will need to count on second-year player Demarcus Robinson, fourth-year pro De’Anthony Thomas, and rookie Jehu Chesson if their passing game is going to improve in the fifth year of the Alex Smith/Andy Reid era.