(Photo Courtesy of Dave Eulitt- Kansas City Star)
It’s a new year for the NFL, which means a lot of new faces switching teams around the league. This year more than others has been particularly intriguing with the amount of big name players changing their uniform. From New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham heading to Seattle to Philadelphia’s Lesean McCoy trading in his wings to head east to join Rex Ryan in Buffalo the league is sure to have a much different identity come next season.
A few of the players swapping teams are former #MizzouMade Missouri Tigers, so let’s review a few them here.
Blaine Gabbert (San Francisco 49’ers)- It’s been quite the unfortunate offseason for San Francisco. In addition to losing both Justin Smith and Patrick Willis to retirement the Niners lost running back Frank Gore to free agency when he took a deal with the Indianapolis Colts. Then the news came out yesterday that they had locked up Gabbert to a two-year $2 million deal. I don’t think this contract was quite as bad as the Mark Sanchez contract with the Eagles and I get the need for a backup quarterback, but there are cheaper options. He’s done next to nothing since entering the league with the Jaguars and likely won’t see any playing time with Colin Kaepernick as the starter for now.
Sean Weatherspoon (Arizona Cardinals)- Spoon is one of my all-time favorite Missouri Tigers and I think many people would agree. Injuries cost him the majority of the past two seasons, but at the ripe age of 27 Weatherspoon has the chance to show he has some gas left in the tank. The loss of Darnell Dockett to San Francisco called for the Arizona Cardinals to make some moves. With a one-year contract just shy of $4 million the Cardinals receive a top talent, that when healthy can be a headache for opposing teams.
Jeremy Maclin (Kansas City Chiefs) Maclin hit the jackpot getting to return to his home state with his former head coach. In addition to that he picks up a hefty 5-year $55 million contract. It looks as though the Chiefs might have over paid for Maclin, who was never a big impact player in Philadelphia. Nonetheless Kansas City needed the wide receiver depth and Maclin helps out with that. Now Alex Smith just needs to throw to his wide outs in the end zone instead of letting Jamaal Charles do all the work.
