Jeremy Maclin was one of the Kansas City Chiefs team leaders so his release will be felt for a while. Andy Reid will speak to the media today and I’m sure he’ll be asked about it. Alex Smith said he was shocked by the move. Travis Kelce spoke to 810 WHB’s Soren Petro on Monday and said it ripped his heart out.
“It ripped my heart out,” Kelce said. “Just about everybody on the team the same way. I don’t want to get into whether we should’ve done something this way or that way. That’s out of our hands. That’s the organization at that point making decisions. You just have to roll with the punches.”
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The Chiefs have been thinking about the Maclin move for a while, Andy Reid said.
Kelce admitted that it seems “a little down” right now.
“Right now, it kinda seems a little down knowing one of the leaders, one of the best players on our team is no longer with us,” Kelce continued. “Just gotta keep coming on. I don’t want to get too in depth with it because I haven’t really had a chance to talk to Maclin about it. I wanted to let all this die down before I gave the guy a call. It’s a tough position for all of us and puts you on notice that even the best guys on the team their jobs are on notice. That’s just the nature of the business.”
It puts guys on notice but it also creates opportunities for others. In this case, it could create opportunities for Tyreek Hill, Chris Conley or other Chiefs receivers. Kelce has been on that side of it, too, with a veteran getting cut and him needing to step up.
“I was surprised we let go of Anthony Fasano after my second year,” Kelce said. “I was very surprised them giving me the initial role of you gotta step up and be there for us.”