Alex Smith was shocked the Chiefs cut Jeremy Maclin

Alex Smith found out shortly before the rest of us did that the Kansas City Chiefs were going to cut Jeremy Maclin. Chiefs coach Andy Reid told Maclin on Friday and then called up Alex and told him.

“Shocked,” Alex said of his reaction to the move via 41 Action News. “He’s a great person, great teammate, great player. On all those levels, yeah, just kinda letting that sink in.”

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Who gains the most with Maclin’s release?

Shocked, indeed, especially at the timing of it all. Cutting Maclin was on no one’s radar in June. Andy Reid and some Chiefs players were just at his wedding a few weeks ago.

“I shot him a note,” Alex said. “I’ll leave that between us. He and I both have been playing a long time. We’ve been around this a long time so in a sense I get it. You say it’s a business and you hear that but for us as teammates it’s not. It’s very personal. I was just at his wedding. At the same time, it’s hard to digest. We’ve both been around it a long time so in a sense you understand how it works.”

Alex said the Chiefs have to find a way to move on with what they’ve got. And what do they have? The oldest receiver in the room right now is 24 years old.

“Jeremy was a big leader and veteran presence in that room,” Alex said. “With that gone a lot of the young guys will have to mature fast. Hopefully, they’ve learned from that example and will be able to step up.”

Hopefully.