Denver Broncos: Could Jeremy Maclin be a possibility?

Could Jeremy Maclin be a possible fit for the Denver Broncos as he tries to find a new home.

Jeremy Maclin was cut by the Kansas City Chief earlier this week. The move cleared $10 million in cap space according to Spotrac and will allow the team to allocate the funds for other positions. Maclin signed a five-year, $55 million deal in 2015 with the Chiefs.

Maclin caught 1,624 yards and 10 touchdowns during his two year tenure with the Chiefs and has 6,395 yards and 46 touchdowns during the course of his career. He’s a grizzled veteran with efficient hands and smooth route running. His ability to get in and out of his breaks and explode off the line of scrimmage makes him very tough to cover.

The Denver Broncos wide receiver corps is led by Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, who are considered one of the top wide receiver tandems in the league. After Sanders and Thomas, however, the depth chart gets a bit sketchy.

The Broncos spent a second-round pick on Cody Latimer in the 2014 NFL Draft with the hopes that he would eventually develop into one of the team’s starting wide receivers. Since then, he has only started in two games while catching just 16 receptions for 158 yards and one touchdown. So far, he has been a colossal bust for the team.

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Other receivers on the roster are Bennie Fowler, Jordan Taylor, Hunter Sharp and Kalif Raymond. Between all four receivers they have accumulated a combined 668 yards and four touchdowns receiving for the Broncos. Experience is very limited with this group and could be one of the reasons why the team may want to bring in a veteran wide receiver for an evaluation.

Denver drafted Carlos Henderson an explosive wide receiver from Louisiana Tech to eventually develop into one of the team’s starting wide receivers. He’s very dangerous with ball in open space and he has the potential to eat up yards at will after the catch. Henderson is one of the top candidates on the team to win the third wide receiver spot on the depth chart. However, he’s still a rookie and is very green compared to a lot of veteran receivers in the league. He could experience an initial learning curve, preventing him to develop into the team’s third wideout, delaying his ability to breakout during his rookie season.

The team also drafted Isaiah McKenzie in the fifth round of this year’s draft. He’s a speedster who could play some snaps out of the slot this season. He was primarily drafted to return kicks and punts, but he could also be utilized as a slot receiver when needed. When it comes to route running and knowing some of the finer nuances at the wide receiver position, McKenzie has limited experience due to only catching 60 receptions for 823 yards and seven touchdowns during his three-year career at Georgia.

It’s easy to see how an experienced receiver like Maclin could easily help this team. A solid third receiver would add an extra dynamic that could put the offense on a different level. The receiving corps would be almost impossible to cover with Thomas, Sanders and Maclin running routes on a routine basis.

Adding another talented receiver like Maclin is easier said than done. First off, Maclin would require a hefty contract that would weigh down some of the team’s cap. Second off, he would need to actually want to sign with the team, because working with inexperience quarterbacks and competing for targets in a low volume passing attack might not be the right situation for him.

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In Madden, this signing would easily work for the Broncos. But in real life, signings like these get real tricky, and more than likely never happen. The team doesn’t really need another receiver since they have two solid receivers and a few developmental prospects on the back-end of the roster. But, it’s still very interesting to entertain the idea.

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