Barely a day after they traded Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins, the Chiefs will sign one of the top wide receivers remaining on the market. Marquez Valdes-Scantling is committing to Kansas City on a three-year deal, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The Chiefs have since announced the move.
The former Packers deep threat agreed to terms on a three-year pact worth $30MM. The Packers still had hopes of re-signing MVS, but the four-year veteran will head to Missouri. Valdes-Scantling will receive $18MM guaranteed on a deal that can be worth up to $36MM. The Chiefs will save quite a bit of money with this receiver commitment, compared to what they would have paid Hill.
Kansas City offered Hill a contract that would have made him one of the league’s highest-paid receivers, but the sides did not progress. The difference in the Chiefs and Dolphins’ offers was notable, Drew Rosenhaus said (via the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, on Twitter). The Dolphins gave Hill a four-year, $120MM extension, one that is closer to three-year, $75MM deal.
Valdes-Scantling visited Kansas City on Wednesday, shortly after the news broke Hill was being granted permission to seek a trade. The former fifth-round pick will join a reconstructed Chiefs receiving corps, which houses JuJu Smith-Schuster as well. The Chiefs still have Mecole Hardman under contract but have dealt Hill and seen Byron Pringle and Demarcus Robinson find new teams in free agency.
The Packers hoped they could convince MVS to stay, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes, but multiple suitors emerged. As a result, Valdes-Scantling will shift to another MVP quarterback. Despite entering the league two years later, Valdes-Scantling is only a few months younger than Hill. The 27-year-old wideout also struggled with drops during his time in Wisconsin, but he showed considerable deep capabilities with Aaron Rodgers. It is fairly easy to see why the Chiefs targeted him, given Hill’s long-range importance in their Patrick Mahomes-keyed attack.
Valdes-Scantling led the NFL with 20.9 yards per catch in 2020, catching six touchdown passes that season. Last year, a hamstring injury and a COVID-19 contraction led to the South Florida alum missing seven games. He finished the season with just 26 receptions for 430 yards. Valdes-Scantling does not have a 1,000-yard season on his resume at the pro or college level, but the Chiefs are confident he will fill part of the void created by Hill’s sudden departure. The Packers, meanwhile, will continue to search for difference-makers for a receiving corps that looks like one of the NFL’s thinnest post-Davante Adams.
As a Chiefs fan who can’t believe we traded Hill I can only say yippee to this signing.
Because he’s greedy…players don’t play for the love of the game anymore they play for the almighty dollar and that’s sad
Hill that is…
Cmon Kaz. Players earn what the market offers for their past performance.
Nah its ‘what did the last guy get.. I need more’ it’s pretty arbitrary.
Players have a short time to make money, and that short time could end on any play. Why shouldn’t they maximize? Do you see teams throwing away profit for love of the game? And those owners also get to own an appreciating asset (and tax shelter) in teams, while players just have their career. Hill’s a lousy guy, but this idea that players are greedy for not taking a discount is dopey.
He makes fries for the love of fries, not money.
Brady took less than market value in order to help the teams cap. Some players don’t fight for every extra dollar.
A. When Brady was young and signed his first couple of extensions in 2002 and 2005, he did go for the extra dollars. From 2004 through 2010, his annual cap hits ranked 8th, 5th, 1st, 10th, 2nd, 4th and 4th. It wasn’t until Brady signed his fourth contract with the Patriots, the four-year deal that took him through 2014, that he noticeably started to fall behind in the annual QB cap hit rankings:
2011-14: 8th, 17th, 5th, 12th
2015-17: 15th, 18th, 20th
2018-19: 11th, 11th
2020-22 (Bucs): 6th (first time in the top 10 since 2013), 15th, 10th, 12th
In other words, Brady was in the league for over a decade before he started seriously discounting his services. (Sources: Pro Sports Transactions and OTC)
B. Brady has a spouse who is wealthier than he is. That may not be unique in professional sports, but it is rare, and it gives him a flexibility in crafting contracts that other players do not have.
The point is he didn’t fight to be the top paid player like others do. He never had holdout issues. Some players want the ego boost of being the top paid, even if they aren’t the top at their position. Should players maximize their salary? Sure, who wouldn’t. But when ur making $20 million, do you need $23 million, just to be the top paid player? Hill got $30 million, top paid WR of all time. Is he the top WR in the game? Nope.
C. New England also “hired” Tom Brady’s company to do work for the Patriots. This was a way for Tom Brady to earn more by also circumventing the salary cap number.
Tom Brady still makes more than almost every receiver in football after an unrealistic number of seasons while married to someone even richer than he is. Not exactly a model for other players.
And not every player is married to the highest paid model ever. Brady said hike self that he was able to the pay cuts because his wife was making $210 million a year.
Consider an analogy…
A painter, right out of art school is told of a health condition where they will lose their sight in their early 30s.
So they have a limited time to produce as many paintings as possible and sell them for as much as they can.
You wouldn’t expect them to sell them cheap, bc of their “love of art”… why this? Tyreek can retire and 65, he’s lucky if he’s still on a roster at 35.
His money has to last his lifetime and provide a good life for his kids.
With inflation, even as it was before covid, $120M might not be the windfall we think it is, once you fast-forward 40 years.
In 1979, Nolan Ryan became baseball’s first million dollar contract, 4yrs/$4.5M.
The whole value of that contract, $4.5M, is an unremarkable ANNUAL salary for athletes today.
…just some perspective.
…can’t* retire at* 65.
Have you seen how much you can get paid for playing a sport for a living?
Have you seen how much you can get paid for inheriting a sports franchise?
Come on man. Go into your career and say, “ I love working her so much, I’ll take minimum wage”.
I know that they make millions of dollars and not minimum wage, but the love of game doesn’t change your life and the life of your loved ones.
People in all walks of life work for money and care very much that they get paid as much as possible. When you are old enough to work for a living you will learn that.
Laughable comment. “Love of the game”. NFL is a business pure and simple. It isn’t Pop Warner. You make your money where and when you can. Most of these guys are beat up for life. I don’t begrudge any player for taking the best money available.
Like you would turn down a 20 or 25% pay increase from another company just because you have “the love of the job”. Plus, I am sure he can “love the game” just as much in South Beach.
MVS was always just an ok receiver in GB, certainly not worth the price KC just paid him. He won’t move the needle too much as a replacement to Hills production
MVS is garbage, what a waste of money : (((
KC will regret this one very soon
No they won’t
He’s not that good, certainly not 3/30 good. He’ll play in 12 games a year due to injuries and be a non factor in 8 of those. His hands are poor and his route running doesn’t throw DB’s off. All he has is speed, and even then as a GB fan, we have seen him fly himself open only to watch the ball escape his grasp.
Other wide receivers with deals paying them an average of $10 million a year: Russell Gage (more receptions but fewer yards and TD’s than MVS, 2021 PFF 74.7), D.J. Chark (similar stats to MVS except in ypc, but has played a lot fewer games, PFF 65.9), Tim Patrick (also similar to MVS, except in ypc and catch rate, PFF 71.2).
I honestly don’t know if MVS (2021 PFF 66.1) is truly any worse or better than these guys.
Tyreek who?!
Not sure what to think about this. Kinda wanted..thought..hoped..for him to stay with GB, but not at that price. Especially with the history of drops AND injuries.
Sure would feel a lot better had GB planned for the potential loss of wr’s the way they did for QB & RB recently…
He can’t play and neither can their other receiver with a long last name. Good for GB to let him go.
MVS is the picture of feast or famine. He won’t do a damn thing for two games and then he’ll hit on a 65 yard deep ball. Maybe the Chiefs find ways to use his skill set more. I would have my doubts but, Andy Reid and the KC OC are good player callers. I wish MVS luck.
A month ago I would have said this was a ridiculous overpay but maybe this is the going rate for a #2/3 WR now
Giselle isn’t even that hot, it’s weird she makes all those millions on her looks. You can go to any college in the world and find at least ten women more attractive than her. Any any mall, any airport. Any major public place. Never understood the Giselle hype. No curves and nothing special in the face. Sorry but I had to get that off my chest. I keep being reminded of how rich she is reading these comments. It’s very confusing.