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Although the Cleveland Browns had a passing interest in wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, the two top contenders for his services included the Buffalo Bills and the Baltimore Ravens. And while it was fun to fantasize at first about Maclin joining the Browns, now Gregg Williams will have to worry about covering him twice a year. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Maclin has decided to sign with the Ravens:
Free agent WR Jeremy Maclin is expected to sign with the #Ravens to a 2-year deal, source, said. A late, big-ticket addition.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 12, 2017
Maclin had a 1,318-yard, 10-touchdown season with the Eagles in 2014, and followed that up with a 1,088-yard, 8-touchdown season in Kansas City in 2015. Considering the Chiefs’ propensity to not utilize wide receivers a whole lot, that wasn’t viewed as a dropoff in production.
Maclin's productivity did see a steep decline in 2016, though. In 12 games, he had 536 yards receiving and just 2 touchdowns. The Chiefs made the surprising move to cut him last week. Maclin last faced the Browns in Week 16 of the 2015 season, when he caught 5 passes for 49 yards and 1 touchdown.
The Ravens were hurting for an offensive playmaker after the news that tight end Dennis Pitta’s career is basically over. With Steve Smith retiring, that left Mike Wallace and Breshad Perriman as the team’s top two receiving weapons. Maclin gives a nice boost to the group, but Cleveland has also strengthened their secondary this offseason with the additions of Jason McCourty, Jabrill Peppers, and Calvin Pryor.