Eagles News: Jeremy Maclin Says Chiefs Wanted him More

Former Philadelphia Eagles‘ wideout Jeremy Maclin sheds light on his exit from Philly.

The NFL off-season is officially over today, as the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers will open up the league’s 2015 NFL regular season.

One person who might be happy to put off-season storylines behind him and actually focus on the on-field product? Chip Kelly, whose Philadelphia Eagles’ have become the trendy dark-horse Superbowl pick, but only did so after Kelly faced backlash for turning the team’s roster upside down in his image this off-season.

Jeremy Maclin was one of many Pro-Bowl caliber players to exit Philadelphia this past off-season, but did so kind of on his own terms. By most accounts Kelly didn’t just let Maclin walk out the door, but simply made an (impressive) executive decision that Maclin was not worth $11 million per season.

Maclin and his high school guardian Jeff Parres spoke to the Kansas City Star about number 18’s exit from Philadelphia in an extensive article yesterday, providing their side of things.

"Just the same, leaving Philadelphia was painful for Maclin and, Parres believes, part of another entire tier of his maturation.“It was tough, man; I had established a lot of relationships there and had become very comfortable up there,” Maclin said. “I kind of wanted to be remembered as being the greatest receiver ever to play there.”So when free-agency Saturday arrived in March, Maclin was intrigued by the prospect of an offer from the Chiefs and Reid but was inclined to stay with the Eagles as he went on a golf trip with Parres and family in Palm Springs.Even when the Chiefs came at Maclin with a five-year offer worth an average of $11 million a year, Parres said, Maclin primarily wanted to know what the Eagles were thinking.As Reid, quarterbacks Alex Smith and Chase Daniel and receivers coach David Culley were calling Maclin that day, “making him feel like he’s the greatest thing on Earth,” Parres said, Maclin could “barely get (Eagles coach and de facto general manager) Chip Kelly to answer the phone.”“He called Chip Kelly five times Saturday: ‘Chip, can you just show me anything?’ ” Parres recalled.(At a news conference after Maclin left, Kelly said he had had a number of discussions with Maclin and said that “we couldn’t go as high as Kansas City.”).That Sunday, while Maclin was on the golf course, the Eagles called and countered by shifting money from year three of their offer to year two — which contrary to Kelly and published reports made it close enough to the same deal Maclin was offered with the Chiefs that Maclin was ready to stay.As they stood on the 16th tee, Maclin’s initial thought was just that.Then Reid called again.And 10 minutes later Maclin was Kansas City-bound.“It wasn’t the money; it was that 10 minutes,” Parres said. “Jeremy said, ‘(The Chiefs) just wanted me more, and I think that’s where I should be.’ ”"

The reality is that the Chiefs may have wanted Maclin more because they needed him more. The Chiefs didn’t have a wide receiver catch a touchdown a season ago, while Kelly’s offense produced a 1,300 receiver for the second consecutive season.

Would the Eagles be an even better team with Maclin in the fold for 2015? Sure, but it isn’t that cut and dry. Had they been able to keep Maclin for even $9 or $10 million per season, it may have kept them from signing someone like DeMarco Murray or Byron Maxwell. Instead, they were able to land one of them instead of Maclin, and still ended up with a high-upside receiver in Nelson Agholor, who they drafted first overall.

Fans are obviously entitled to think what they want, but Maclin had an impressive career in Philadelphia was a hard-worker and the business aspect of the sport didn’t line up for both sides after a career-year. But there would be no reason to be salty about Maclin leaving, in the same way that he appears to be understanding of why he’s no longer in the place that he spent the first five plus seasons of his career.

Next: Brian Dawkins Narrates Earth-Shattering Hype Video

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