Should Eagles Have Overpaid for Jeremy Maclin?

Should the Philadelphia Eagles have handled Jeremy Maclin‘s free-agency differently?

Entering this season, it appeared on paper that the Eagles had made the correct decision to let Jeremy Maclin leave the team in free-agency. It wasn’t that Maclin didn’t thrive in Chip Kelly’s offense in his lone season in it or that he wasn’t a good locker-room guy. He simply priced his way out of Philadelphia in free-agency.

When Maclin agreed to a five-year/$55 million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs on March 11th, in the midst of perhaps the most hectic two week period in the history of the Eagles franchise, it seemed as though Kelly drew a line in the sand.

ESPN’s Andrew Brandt reported that the Eagles gave Maclin a fair offer, one that would have paid him between $9.5 and $10 million per season, but stopped short of the lengths that Andy Reid’s Chiefs were willing to go.

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While virtually everyone thinks that Kelly used that money to overpay for both Byron Maxwell and DeMarco Murray, two wrongs don’t make a right. Neither of those contracts, specifically Murray’s, are working out particularly well right now, so while they may haunt Kelly’s tenure, it was at least initially impressive that he didn’t overpay for Maclin.

However, life after Maclin, coupled with poor performances from other players who were given lucrative contracts, begs the question: should the Eagles have overpaid Maclin to keep him?

Failing to replace him

Much like after DeSean Jackson was released, there was some worry entering this season about how Maclin’s production would be replaced. Given that Maclin, with worse quarterback play, actually had a better 2014 season than Jackson’s 2013, many expected a variety of other options to make up for Maclin’s loss.

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That hasn’t really happened.

At the wide receiver position, first-round pick Nelson Agholor has had a few nice moments, but has posted just 225 receiving yards on nine catches in 2015. Josh Huff, who was selected over Jarvis Landry and Martavis Bryant, isn’t a bad player, but he has turned into a bad pick considering where he was selected. Huff is an above-average kick-returner, but has just 26 catches for 304 yards this season and has struggled to establish himself as the downfield threat that his athleticism seemingly should allow him to be. And Jordan Matthews may finish with 1,000 yards receiving, but has struggled with drops this season and is only a slot guy.

On top of that, the running-game has been inconsistent, behind an offensive line that has struggled both with injuries and just performing well.

So not only could the argument be made that the Eagles’ biggest mistake wasn’t letting Maclin go, but failing to replace him, but it’s also fair to wonder how much better the team would be even with Maclin.

Slippery Slope

To the general fan, giving Maclin just another million or two per season to retain his services seems like it should have been a no-brainer. The problem with doing that is that it’s a dangerous trend to start. Not only would players’ agents begin to use a negotiation like that against the Eagles in future discussions, but adding an extra million or two would limit the Eagles’ ability to add more depth pieces.

That smart way of thinking didn’t apply to the entire off-season, however.

The Eagles were seemingly willing to write a blank check to land Maxwell, and ended up signing him to a six-year/$63 million deal with $25 million guaranteed. Maclin, by comparison got $22.5 million, and was probably closer to earning that money based off of his previous production.

Sep 21, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Jeremy Maclin (18) runs with the ball after the catch as Washington Redskins cornerback David Amerson (39) tries to defend during the first half at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey G. Pittenger-USA TODAY Sports

Maxwell has had some really awful moments this season, but has also put together some nice games. Virtually everyone would feel better with Maclin’s contract than Maxwell’s, but it’s important to remember just how poor the Eagles’ cornerback play was a season ago. Maxwell, while he hasn’t played at an All-Pro level, has helped to improve the team’s secondary this season.

The bigger blunder is Murray’s deal.

Murray signed a five-year/ $40 million deal, with $21 million guaranteed. Not only was the deal a bad idea from the start, something that could have been predicted given his workload last season, but Murray has seemingly become such an outcast on the team that the Eagles may have to release him this off-season.

Again, two wrongs don’t make a right, but the Eagles would probably rather be paying Maclin his contract twice than be stuck with Murray.

It’s also not a good practice to put yourself against the cap, but overthecap.com says that the Eagles have approximately $8.3 million in cap space, meaning that if they elected to sign Maclin in place of bringing back Mark Sanchez or someone with a similar price-tag, they could have made having him, Murray and Maxwell work.

Tough situation

It’s fair to wonder if the Andy Reid coached Kansas City Chiefs hadn’t offered the Missouri native $11 million, if Maclin may have been more willing to take a “home-town discount” to stay in Philadelphia.

But in this case, why would he?

He got more money, was re-united with a coach that he was very familiar with in his home state and has actually ended up joining a better team that has becoming increasingly aware of how to effectively use him as the season has gone on.

Verdict

Maclin is one season into a contract that didn’t look like a smart deal when it was signed. That said, after the third season of his deal, the Chiefs can get out of Maclin’s deal without much of a penalty. If you look at his deal as just a three season deal, the deal looks pretty good so far because he’s given what was one of the worst passing attacks in the league a season ago a number one receiver.

From the Eagles’ perspective, not having a true number one guy like Maclin has made it clear how thin their wide receiver group is one depth. Matthews and Huff kind of are what they are, and the rest of the depth behind them has done little-to-nothing this year. You aren’t supposed to judge draft picks after one season and maybe Agholor will turn into a number one option in the future. The problem is, the Eagles probably can’t afford to wait and bank on his progression. That means this off-season they will either have to attempt to sign a receiver whose price-tag won’t be that far off from Maclin’s, or they will end up using another high draft pick on a receiver.

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Maclin will enter week 16 with 79 catches for 985 yards, and those numbers come in his first season with a new team. It isn’t that this article was written to advocate paying a very good player like he’s great, but it’s starting to feel like the Eagles would have been better off doing that.

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