Marquez Valdes-Scantling

NFC West Notes: Greenlaw, Seahawks, Rams

April 5th, 2025 at 10:59am CST by Sam Robinson

Not only did the Broncos manage to withstand an 11th-hour 49ers push for Dre Greenlaw, the AFC West team appears to have won out for the talented linebacker despite submitting a lesser offer. Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch trekked to Greenlaw’s Texas home to convince the longtime Fred Warner wingman to stay, and the San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch notes this mid-March meeting involved the team topping the Broncos’ offer. It is not known if San Francisco beat Denver’s overall number ($31.5MM) or guarantee at signing ($11.5MM), but Branch points to Greenlaw’s injury history keeping the 49ers from a substantial effort to retain the six-year veteran, who was on the team’s radar for a third contract. Greenlaw, 27, missed most of the 2021 season with a groin injury and played only a handful of snaps after suffering an Achilles tear in the first half of Super Bowl LVIII.

The Broncos will bet on Greenlaw and ex-49ers teammate Talanoa Hufanga returning to full strength, while the 49ers have Dee Winters — a 2023 sixth-round pick who started 10 games last season — in place as the top internal option to complement Warner. The draft could change this equation, but the 49ers have stood down on the veteran front after their regrettable De’Vondre Campbell stopgap investment in 2024.

Here is the latest from the NFC West:

Not on the level of Greenlaw’s departure, Laken Tomlinson‘s Texans defection still leaves the Seahawks with a guard need once again. The team hosted Teven Jenkins, Lucas Patrick, and John Schneider also said (via ESPN.com’s Brady Henderson) a meeting with Jaguars RFA Cole Van Lanen occurred. No offer sheet emerged for Van Lanen, who has three career starts. The Jags gave Van Lanen the low-end RFA tender ($3.26MM). Seattle still has RG starter Anthony Bradford contracted, but Schneider said no veteran addition would be likely until after the draft. That is when Tomlinson arrived last year, but the draft will be a place to look here for the Seahawks.
Cooper Kupp‘s three-year, $45MM Seahawks deal features an important 2026 date. The team guaranteed the former All-Pro receiver $17.5MM at signing, but $26.5MM in total. Kupp will see the remaining $9MM shift from an injury guarantee to a full guarantee on Day 5 of the ’26 league year, Cards Wire’s Howard Balzer notes. Seattle could escape the Kupp contract, should the homecoming not prove a fit, for $8MM in 2026 dead money (due to signing bonus proration).
Additionally, the Rams did not designate Kupp a post-June 1 cut, The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue adds. This created a $22.26MM dead money bill for the team. It had been assumed the Rams would attempt to halve that by using the post-June 1 option, which would have spread part of the bill into the 2026 offseason. Although this is a lofty single-player dead cap hit, the Rams will be free of the Kupp contract after this year.
The Seahawks will deviate from their usual approach by adding a fullback, it appears. Importing Klint Kubiak‘s offense will mean a likely fullback inclusion, as Schneider said (via The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar) the team is looking to add one via the draft or free agency. While the likes of Mack Strong and John L. Williams once thrived in Seattle, the team has not used a fullback regularly in many years. Kubiak’s offense, derived from his father’s attack, does make use of the niche position, however.
Returning to the topic of Seahawks contracts, they made a much cheaper receiver investment by signing Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The brief Kubiak Saints option agreed to a one-year deal worth $4MM in base value ($3MM guaranteed), per ESPN.com’s Brady Henderson. While this is far less than MVS played for in Kansas City, it beats his Buffalo and New Orleans pacts.
The Cardinals‘ second Zay Jones contract also checked in south of the initially reported value. Pegged at $4.4MM, Jones’ deal is worth $2.4MM in base value, Balzer notes. Arizona guaranteed the veteran only $1.3MM. Jones, who turned 30 last week, caught just eight passes for 84 yards with the Cards last season.

Seahawks To Add Marquez Valdes-Scantling

March 12th, 2025 at 12:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett‘s departures have brought a significant retooling effort at receiver in Seattle. While the team will need to add at least one starter-level receiver to complement Jaxon Smith-Njigba, it is adding a likely depth piece now.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling will sign with the Seahawks, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. The well-traveled wideout agreed to a one-year contract worth up to $5.5MM. After the Chiefs and Bills both cut Valdes-Scantling last year, he caught on with the Saints and played a regular role. He will follow 2024 New Orleans OC Klint Kubiak to Seattle.

Valdes-Scantling made some memorable contributions with the Chiefs, but they moved on from his three-year, $30MM contract after a disappointing 2023 season. The 2022 JuJu Smith-Schuster complementary piece signed with the Bills after the draft but did not see much playing time before an in-season release. With the Saints, however, he became a regular part of a battered receiving corps.

Kubiak used MVS as a downfield threat, as the ex-Packer draftee caught 17 passes for 385 yards and four touchdowns during a half-season in New Orleans. With Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed out, Kubiak needed to find other producers. Although MVS had been trending downward and has enjoyed an inconsistent career, he produced during the short Saints stint. This included a 109-yard, two-TD day in a Saints win over the Falcons. MVS also cleared 50 receiving yards on three other occasions with the Saints to close his age-30 season.

The former fifth-round pick is still better known for his Green Bay and Kansas City stays. The 6-foot-4 receiver totaled a career-high 690 yards for the 2020 Packers, leading the NFL with a 20.9-yard average per catch and adding six TDs during Aaron Rodgers‘ third MVP season. Given a $10MM-per-year deal as the Chiefs pivoted to a cheaper receiving group after Tyreek Hill extension talks turned into a Dolphins trade, Valdes-Scantling amassed 687 yards for the Super Bowl champions that year.

The Chiefs depended on MVS in the 2022 AFC championship game, as a few other among their receiving corps battled injuries. He came through with a six-reception, 116-yard showing to help the Chiefs stave off the Bengals. In 2023, Valdes-Scantling caught two deep balls in a Chiefs divisional-round win over the Bills and added the game-clinching grab against the Ravens. He then caught a third-quarter TD pass in Super Bowl LVIII. Of course, that came after a 315-yard season that featured a costly deep-ball drop in a November loss to the Eagles.

Following the Metcalf trade and Lockett release, the Seahawks have Jake Bobo and fourth-year performer Dareke Young as Smith-Njigba complements. While adding a second wideout with a hyphenated name reminds of a recent Chiefs setup, Seattle will undoubtedly be seeking more help for Sam Darnold soon.

Saints Sign WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling

October 24th, 2024 at 9:43am CST by Ben Levine

OCTOBER 24: To little surprise, Valdes-Scantling accepted a one-year deal for the veteran minimum ($1.13MM) to head to New Orleans. ESPN’s Katherine Terrell notes he will carry a cap charge of $688K for 2024 as he looks to boost his free agent stock.

OCTOBER 21: Marquez Valdes-Scantling has found his next gig. The veteran wideout is signing with the Saints, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport.

The receiver worked out for the organization earlier today. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Valdes-Scantling also received interest from the Colts, Commanders, and “other” squads. Ultimately, he landed a job in New Orleans.

Following a two-year stint with the Chiefs, the former Packers draft pick caught on with the Bills this past offseason. Valdes-Scantling got into each of Buffalo’s first six games, hauling in only a pair of catches despite getting into close to 40 percent of the team’s offensive snaps. Following the Bills’ acquisition of Amari Cooper last week, MVS was cut loose, allowing him to resume his career elsewhere.

He’ll now land in New Orleans, where he could quickly see a role in the WR-needy offense. Chris Olave missed yesterday’s game as he continues to recover from a concussion, and the team recently lost wideout Rashid Shaheed to season-ending meniscus surgery. Considering the team’s dwindling depth, it’s no surprise that they were involved in the Davante Adams sweepstakes prior to the Jets-Raiders trade. The organization has also been connected to Mike Williams, whom Gang Green is seeking to move now that it has landed Adams.

MVS has never been confused for a WR1, but the veteran should provide the Saints with a steady presence in their receivers room. The wideout collected 687 receiving yards as recently as 2022, and he topped 400 receiving yards in each of his four seasons with the Packers. Of course, his 2023 campaign left a bit to be desired, as he set new career-lows in receptions (21) and receiving yards (315).

Still, as mentioned, the Saints will take what they can get. During Thursday’s loss to the Broncos, the team was forced to rely on the likes of Bub Means, Mason Tipton, and Cedrick Wilson Jr. to lead their WR grouping. Even when Olave returns to the field, MVS should be able to carve out a role with the Saints.

WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling To Visit Saints

October 20th, 2024 at 10:56am CST by Rory Parks

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.

Bills Cut WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling

October 15th, 2024 at 3:16pm CST by Sam Robinson

Set to add Amari Cooper to their receiving corps, the Bills will jettison one of their current wideouts. It will be Marquez Valdes-Scantling who is cut, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport.

The Bills agreed to terms with Valdes-Scantling in mid-May, with Josh Allen making a sales pitch to the former Packers and Chiefs starter. MVS, however, has not made many contributions to Buffalo’s cause. He has two receptions for 26 yards. The Bills have since announced the release.

With MVS not playing special teams, the Bills resided in a difficult spot regarding his fit — seeing as they obtained a more talented receiver who does not play special teams. It is possible MVS could be retained on a practice squad deal, as he would not need to pass through waivers to get there. For now, however, the seventh-year veteran is out of the picture in Buffalo.

Valdes-Scantling, 30, has played 39% of Buffalo’s offensive snaps this season. The Bills had added several role player-level receivers this offseason — from MVS to Curtis Samuel to Mack Hollins to Chase Claypool — and the recent Chiefs contributor will join Claypool in free agency. The Bills released Claypool with an injury settlement in August.

Although Valdes-Scantling scored a touchdown in Super Bowl LVIII and made critical long-range grabs in Chiefs wins over the Bills and Ravens in the AFC playoffs, he has been trending downward. MVS, who also came through with a 100-yard day for a receiver-depleted Chiefs team in the 2022 AFC title game, recorded just just 315 yards on 21 catches for Kansas City during the 2023 regular season. That span included a brutal drop late in a Chiefs loss to the Eagles.

Still, Valdes-Scantling had a market. The Chargers met with him, and the Saints showed interest. The ex-Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes tertiary target may be able to catch on elsewhere — the two-time defending champions have brought back Mecole Hardman and JuJu Smith-Schuster and remain in need at WR — but his stock has certainly dropped since inking a three-year, $30MM Chiefs deal in March 2022.

Bills WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling On Roster Bubble

August 4th, 2024 at 12:03pm CST by Rory Parks

The Bills shuffled the top of their WR depth chart this offseason, parting ways with Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis while signing Curtis Samuel in free agency and adding Keon Coleman in the second round of the draft. The club also acquired Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who has had issues with drops in his career but who possesses the type of big-play ability that Davis has, which meshes well with quarterback Josh Allen‘s powerful arm.

Early last month, we heard that Valdes-Scantling appeared to be a roster lock. Unfortunately for him, that no longer appears to be the case, as Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic reports that MVS “has faded into the background” and is not getting as many reps with Allen as he did when training camp opened (subscription required).

Buscaglia posits that the decision to have MVS work with the second and third units could simply be the coaching staff’s way of sending a message to the speedy wideout. Still, it’s a potentially ominous sign for a player who largely struggled throughout the 2023 regular season as a member of the Chiefs (despite some memorable highlights during Kansas City’s Super Bowl run).

Interestingly, Buscaglia says that Tyrell Shavers, a 2023 UDFA who did not see any regular season action last year, has outplayed Valdes-Scantling. Even Chase Claypool, whose star has fallen considerably since a promising start to his careeer with the Steelers, was getting more reps with Allen prior to sustaining a toe injury.

For now, the top four receivers in the Bills’ pecking order appear to be Samuel, Coleman, Khalil Shakir, and Mack Hollins. Behind that quartet, players like MVS, Shavers, Claypool, Justin Shorter, KJ Hamler, and Andy Isabella will continue battling for a spot on the 53-man roster.

If Buffalo were to release Valdes-Scantling, it would incur $2.25MM in dead money, though the team has proven that it will not allow such an outcome to prevent what it believes is a necessary move. Indeed, trading Diggs to the Texans resulted in a dead cap charge of $31MM, and Buscaglia reminds us that the team cut tight end O.J. Howard before final cutdowns in 2022 — despite having signed him in March of that year — in favor of second-year UDFA Quintin Morris.

Latest On Bills’ WR Situation

July 2nd, 2024 at 5:00pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Bills will have several new faces at the receiver position in 2024 with Gabe Davis having departed in free agency and Stefon Diggs expectedly being traded away. Training camp will prove to be a crucial point in the offseason as Buffalo looks to rebuild its WR depth chart.

Plenty of uncertainty remains regarding the final roster spots, and performances this summer will dictate who survives final cuts. Before camp opens, however, a shortlist of wideouts can be considered locks to make the Bills. As ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg writes, returnee Khalil Shakir, free agent addition Curtis Samuel and second-round rookie Keon Coleman fall into that category.

Shakir is the only receiver currently on the roster who has caught a pass from Josh Allen in his career. The 24-year-old has operated in a rotational capacity to date, although his 15.8 yards per catch average suggests he could establish himself as a notable vertical threat in Buffalo’s passing game. Samuel has much more experience – 91 games, 58 starts – during his time with the Panthers and Commanders, although he has generally served in a complementary role.

Samuel, 27, has recorded more than 656 yards only once in his career (2020). He could manage to match or exceed his career-best 851 yards during his tenure in Buffalo if it includes starting duties, though. The former second-rounder signed a three-year deal with a base value of $24MM in March, so he will be expected to serve as a consistent producer for the Bills.

Coleman’s addition came about after Buffalo traded out of the first round. Allen supported the decision to draft the Florida State alum, whose size (6-4, 210 pounds) and jump-ball skills make him an intriguing prospect. Regardless of how he, Samuel and Shakir fare, second-year tight end Dalton Kincaid and lead running back James Cook are of course in line for an uptick in targets in 2024.

To little surprise, Getzenberg adds that Marquez Valdes-Scantling can also be considered a roster lock. The former Packers and Chiefs speedster joined the Bills on a one-year deal after dining with Allen. Valdes-Scantling has struggled with drops during his career, but he will provide Buffalo with a known commodity in the pass-catching corps during a season in which uncertainty is present.

Other wideouts like Mack Hollins, Chase Claypool, KJ Hamler and Andy Isabella are also in place to compete for a roster spot. Their performances over the course of the summer will be worth watching, but the bulk of Buffalo’s receiver room is in place based on where things currently stand.

Saints Showed Interest In Marquez Valdes-Scantling; Latest On WR’s Bills Signing

May 16th, 2024 at 10:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

Marquez Valdes-Scantling trudged through an inconsistent 2023 season, albeit one that included pivotal contributions in the playoffs. But the two-time Super Bowl champion attracted a decent market in the weeks following the draft.

Post-draft signings not affecting teams’ 2025 compensatory formula played into the MVS chase, which featured a few teams. Although the Bills won out for the two-year Chiefs starter, the Chargers also arranged a visit. The Saints were part of this pursuit as well, according to Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz.

New Orleans cut the cord on Michael Thomas this offseason, shedding the uniquely constructed contract as a post-June 1 cut. The team did add Cedrick Wilson Jr. in free agency, but the second-generation NFL wideout is coming off a down Dolphins tenure. While the Saints have first-rounder Chris Olave entrenched as their top target and found a gem in UDFA Rashid Shaheed, more complementary help would make sense going into Dennis Allen‘s third year as head coach.

The Saints used a fifth-round pick on Pittsburgh’s Bub Means and also added Equanimeous St. Brown as a flier-type free agent. Sixth-round pick A.T. Perry showed promise as a rookie, averaging 20.5 yards per catch (12 receptions, 246 yards, four touchdowns). The team also has receiving tight end Juwan Johnson and enduring jack of all trades Taysom Hill to help Derek Carr in his second New Orleans season. With the market thinning following the signings of MVS, Odell Beckham Jr., DJ Chark and Zay Jones, the Saints may be prepared to go with their current receiving cast.

Valdes-Scantling’s Bills deal is worth up to $4.25MM. With the base value assuredly checking in lower, it is worth wondering if the Saints made an offer. MVS visited the Bills this week, and ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler adds the six-year veteran had dinner at Josh Allen‘s house during his Buffalo trek. This meeting helped convince the former Packers fifth-round pick to join a crowded but uncertain Bills receiving corps.

The Bills let Gabe Davis defect to the Jaguars in March and, despite incurring a non-quarterback record $31MM in dead money, the team traded Stefon Diggs to the Texans in April. The team used a second-round pick on Florida State’s Keon Coleman. The 6-foot-4 rookie will be expected to play a key role on a team flooded with midlevel veterans. In addition to Valdes-Scantling, the Bills have signed Curtis Samuel, Chase Claypool, Mack Hollins and KJ Hamler. This cast’s makeup points to MVS carving out a role in a group that will also need 2022 draftee Khalil Shakir to continue an upward trajectory.

MVS joined the likes of Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore in struggling for an unreliable (beyond Rashee Rice) Chiefs receiving corps last season. Formerly attached to a three-year, $30MM deal, the 6-4 target struggled down the stretch in 2022 as well. The inconsistent deep threat still totaled 687 receiving yards in his Kansas City debut and produced a six-catch, 116-yard performance in the ’22 AFC title game — with the other prominent Chiefs wideouts unavailable due to injury — to help the hosts fend off the Bengals despite Patrick Mahomes limited with a high ankle sprain.

Committing a brutal drop in a narrow loss to the Eagles, Valdes-Scantling finished the regular season with just 315 yards. But he came up big against the Bills (two catches, 62 yards) and caught a conference-clinching lob from Mahomes against the Ravens before scoring a touchdown against the 49ers. The Bills will hope their newest addition can at least commandeer an auxiliary role within their post-Diggs WR crew.

Bills Sign WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling

May 14th, 2024 at 9:56pm CST by Adam La Rose

Marquez Valdes-Scantling‘s Bills visit has proven to be a fruitful one. The veteran wideout has a Buffalo agreement in place, as first reported by Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. The team has since announced the move.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter adds this one-year pact includes a $1.125MM signing bonus. The deal carries a maximum value of $4.5MM, and it eliminates another receiver from the post-draft free agent market. Valdes-Scantling will aim to provide Buffalo with a vertical threat in the team’s vastly different 2024 wideout setup.

The Bills lost Gabe Davis in free agency when he inked a three-year, $39MM deal with the Jaguars. Davis proved himself to be an effective field-stretcher during his four years in Buffalo, averaging 16.7 yards per reception. It came as little surprise when he departed, though, as the team turned its attention elsewhere in the pass-catching corps.

At the time of Davis’ departure, Stefon Diggs was still in place as the Bills’ top receiver. He was dealt to the Texans in April, however, creating a notable vacancy in terms of targets in the Buffalo passing attack. Curtis Samuel was added in free agency, and (after trading down twice) the team used its top draft pick on Keon Coleman. Quarterback Josh Allen was on board with selecting the Florida State product, and it will be interesting to see how their chemistry develops in 2024 and beyond.

Valdes-Scantling spent the past two seasons in Kansas City, helping the team win back-to-back Super Bowls. The 29-year-old only saw his catch percentage (51.2%) improve slightly compared to his tenure in Green Bay, and issues related to drops will no doubt be a talking point if they continue this season as he joins the Bills. Valdes-Scantling also met with the Chargers before his Buffalo summit, but he has elected to join Allen and Co. as they look to improve on last year’s run to the divisional round.

Buffalo’s switch to Joe Brady as offensive coordinator midway through the 2023 campaign saw the team lean more heavily on the running game. That will likely continue this season, with tight ends Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox each having a notable role. The receiver room will look much different, however, and Valdes-Scantling will look to carve out a starting spot ahead of free agency next offseason.

Bills Hosting WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling

May 13th, 2024 at 8:03pm CST by Ben Levine

It sounds like Marquez Valdes-Scantling‘s market is heating up. After meeting with the Chargers last week, the veteran wide receiver is meeting with the Bills tonight, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The former Packers draft pick has spent the past two seasons in Kansas City, earning Super Bowl rings in each campaign. Following a 2022 season where he compiled 687 receiving yards, Valdes-Scantling finished 2023 with a career-low 315 receiving yards. The wideout has also come up big in the playoffs, hauling in 24 receptions and three touchdowns, including one score in this past year’s Super Bowl.

The Chiefs moved on from the veteran earlier this offseason, saving the team $12MM against the cap. The veteran was set to enter the final season of a three-year, $30MM deal he signed with the Chiefs in 2022. Valdes-Scantling has been connected to the Chargers multiple times this offseason, but it’s been a relatively quiet free agency for the 29-year-old.

The WR-needy Bills would be a natural landing spot for any of the available free agent wideouts, so it’s not a surprise that they’re considering Valdes-Scantling. Both Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis will be playing elsewhere in 2024, leaving the team with a questionable depth chart at the position. The team still has holdover Khalil Shakir, and they added a list of veterans (including Curtis Samuel, Chase Claypool, and Mack Hollins) before selecting Keon Coleman in the second round of the draft.

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