Despite speculation that he could be released prior to final roster cuts at the end of August, wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling cracked the Bills’ initial 53-man roster and appeared in each of the club’s first six games of the 2024 season. However, after Buffalo acquired Amari Cooper via trade last week, Valdes-Scantling received his walking papers.
The 30-year-old deep threat could quickly land on his feet. Per Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, Valdes-Scantling will fly to New Orleans tonight and will work out for the Saints tomorrow. The reporters suggest that a deal may come together quickly.
The Saints’ interest in Valdes-Scantling is unsurprising, as the club has been actively seeking to add to its receiver room and was also reported to have checked in on MVS this offseason. The club was heavily involved in the Davante Adams sweepstakes before the Raiders and Jets agreed to a deal sending Adams to New York, and New Orleans has also been connected to Mike Williams, whom Gang Green is seeking to move now that it has landed Adams. The Saints’ need for a WR has only intensified since Chris Olave is dealing with a concussion and since Rashid Shaheed was forced to undergo season-ending meniscus surgery.
Of course, it is highly unlikely that Valdes-Scantling will be the tonic the Saints really need. After winning the first two games of the current campaign, the team has lost five in a row, and quarterback Derek Carr – who sustained an oblique injury in Week 5 – may not be back until Week 9 or Week 10. The season is circling the drain, and while MVS may still be a viable complementary target, his presence alone will not save the team.
During the first few years of his career, Valdes-Scantling operated as a useful deep threat for the Aaron Rodgers-fronted Packers and even led the league with a 20.9 yards-per-reception average in 2020. He parlayed his success in Green Bay into a three-year, $30MM deal with the Chiefs in 2022, and while he recorded career-highs in targets (81) and catches (42) during his first season in Kansas City, his stock took a major hit last year.
MVS has had issues with drops throughout his career, though a particularly memorable drop in a loss to the Eagles in 2023 underscored a generally disappointing year in which he posted just 21 catches for 315 yards despite having Patrick Mahomes at quarterback and operating in an offense that was desperate for someone to step up at receiver. While Valdes-Scantling did play a major role in each of the Chiefs’ last two Super Bowl runs, it was not enough to avoid becoming a cap casualty in February.
As a member of the Bills this season, Valdes-Scantling has caught just two passes for 26 yards. Should he land with the Saints, he could theoretically establish a quick rapport with Spencer Rattler and/or Carr and create a market for himself next offseason, but at the moment, his signing would seem to represent little more than a Band-Aid for player and team alike.
Dennis Allen, after starting 2-0 ‘…two wins just guarantees you that you’re gonna go no worse than 2-15 this season…”
He might be spot on w/ that assessment!
I wanna make a joke about him going long and coming up empty handed.
I’m not huge on MVS, but he would fill a need here. The Saints need big receivers and fast receivers to play outside to give better opportunities to their top two targets. Aside from that, practically their entire starting offense is injured. I don’t expect them to look as good as they did in their blistering start, but the Saints do need someone to fill that outside stretch role and to fill in for their injured players. Rattler in the last game had several drops and was bereft of good targets and protection due to the injuries.
Whomever plays from here on out-whether it be Haener, Rattler, or Carr himself-is going to need all the help he can get in opening up lanes underneath for other players or keeping the defense defending deep. MVS is a drop machine himself, which wouldn’t help, but he does have speed and veteran experience to at least offer a skill set that they don’t have. If the Saints were in any better shape with their WRs, I’d say that they didn’t benefit from this, but they might end up improving from his signing. I don’t know who else they can bring in right now that won’t require a trade.
Is it Mardi Gras or something? This guy isn’t very good.
MVS couldn’t get seperation if his life depended on it.
I actually agree with both of you. He does offer a different skill set than Olave does, though. If he lines up, the defense is going to have to be prepared to defend a deep route. I don’t think that MVS is anything more than a complementary receiver, but he does offer something that New Orleans doesn’t have, and the available WR pool is rather thin in free agency right now. Again, I’m not saying that MVS is good. He’s average at best. But the Saints do need a body, and options aren’t plentiful right now, either.
To Omar Kahn…you started doing a good job reshaping the Steelers. But you are failing miserably in trying to find a wide receiver…Steelers have been lucky…now they put in a old dinosaur and take out a young buck.
No wide out to throw the ball too. I’m beginning to feel like this season is going to blow up in a disaster cloud
Well I don’t know what that has to do with this but I’ll reply anyway. The Steeler’s have shown their hand in the sense that they’re 4-2 and already worried about giving away a 4th round draft pick for next year. So apparently they have figured out that this isn’t going to be their year.