Marquez Valdes-Scantling Leaves Packers for Chiefs
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Big-play receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling is trading Aaron Rodgers for Patrick Mahomes. And the Kansas City Chiefs are trading Tyreek Hill for Valdes-Scantling.
According to a source, Valdes-Scantling is signing a free-agent contract with the Chiefs. That means major receiver shakeups for two of the best teams in the NFL. The Packers traded All-Pro Davante Adams to the Raiders and have lost Valdes-Scantling. And the Chiefs traded All-Pro Hill to Miami and replaced him with Valdes-Scantling.
It is a three-year deal worth at least $30 million and up to $36 million. Annual incentives are based on catches: $500,000 for 60, $1 million for $70, $1.5 million for 80 and $2 million for 90.
The Packers had been trying to retain Valdes-Scantling but the price moved out of their budget a few days ago. With the Chiefs deciding to move on from Hill, they swooped in, and he chose Kansas City because of the length of the contract (three years vs. one year for Green Bay) combined with the quarterback (Patrick Mahomes).
Without Adams and Valdes-Scantling, the only proven receivers under contract for Green Bay are Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb.
Without Valdes-Scantling, who caught 123 passes for 2,153 yards (17.5 average) and 13 touchdowns, the Packers are left with a combined 82 receptions for 1,005 yards and 13 touchdowns of 2021 production from their returning receivers.
Cobb: 591 receptions, 7,168 yards, 52 TDs in 11 seasons but 64 receptions, 816 yards, 8 TDs the past two years.
Lazard: 108 receptions, 1,441 yards, 14 TDs the past three seasons.
Malik Taylor: 7 receptions, 80 yards, 1 TD in two seasons.
Juwann Winfree: 8 receptions, 58 yards, 0 TDs in three seasons. All of that production came last season.
Amari Rodgers: 4 receptions, 45 yards, 0 TDs in one season.
The only drafted receivers are Cobb (second round, 2011), Rodgers (third round, 2021) and Winfree (sixth round, 2019, by Denver). Rodgers, drafted as a slot receiver, had his rookie campaign pushed to the back burner by the return of Cobb, another slot receiver. Winfree had two fumbles and one drop in his limited snaps.
Rico Gafford (two receptions in four years; didn't play last year) and Chris Blair (hasn't played in two years) round out the depth chart.
Bringing back Valdes-Scantling to pair with Lazard and Cobb would have given Aaron Rodgers an experienced receiver trio as a starting point without Adams. And that, in turn, would have bought time for Rodgers to get in tune with whatever receiver(s) the Packers – armed with two first-round picks and two second-round picks – inevitably will draft next month.
Rodgers spoke several times last season about how proud he was of Valdes-Scantling’s growth.
“I just walked past him in the locker room and I said, ‘That’s the Marquez I know,’” Rodgers said after a late-season win at Baltimore in which he caught five passes for 98 yards on an afternoon in which the Ravens put all of their eggs into the basket of taking away Davante Adams.
“I’m very, very proud of him. He’s been battling. His back’s been a little tight and, confidence-wise, we wanted to get him feeling confident again. Nice catch on an underthrown ball in the first half and then he had some really important catches. I mean, the slant for a touchdown is a great hands catch, a great route and then not just that, but it’s a great hands catch and extension to the end zone to get that touchdown. That’s the Marquez that we all know and love.”
As a fifth-round pick in 2018 who hit certain playing-time requirements, Valdes-Scantling got a nice bump in salary (to $2.183 million) last year as part of the NFL’s proven-performance escalator. After leading the NFL with a 20.9-yard average in 2020 and a big-time training camp this past summer, expectations were high entering the season.
However, limited to 11 games (seven starts), he caught 26-of-55 passes (47.3 percent) for 430 yards (16.5 average) and three touchdowns. According to PFF, he had zero drops – a major leap forward in his game – but also didn’t break any tackles.
Last season marked the first time he missed games due to injury.
With elite size and speed, Valdes-Scantling’s niche is as a deep threat, which would have complemented the power game of Lazard and the slot work of Cobb and Amari Rodgers. On passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield, he caught only 6-of-22 (27.3 percent) with one touchdown in 2021 compared to 9-of-30 (30.0 percent) and five touchdowns in 2020, according to PFF. Aaron Rodgers never quite got dialed in to MVS’s game-breaking speed, a fact that left the quarterback frustrated with himself at times.
In 60 career games, including four in the playoffs, Valdes-Scantling had six 100-yard games. He had one last season, the loss at Minnesota, and one against Tampa Bay in the 2020 NFC Championship Game.
Mostly a secondary option, Valdes-Scantling no doubt will welcome being a bigger part of an offense. Defensive backs stayed well off Hill, so afraid of getting beaten deep. Chiefs coach Andy Reid took advantage with a lot of quick game, which added up to easy catches and plenty of yards after the catch for Hill. Valdes-Scantling lacks Hill’s build and instant acceleration, but he should be more involved in the game plan.
“Obviously, every night I feel like is going to be my night. You have to have that mindset as a receiver,” he said after the Baltimore game. “I think Davante is the same way. We want the ball every single play. If we can throw the ball 60 times and I get 60 targets, I want it. That’s kind of the mindset. I don’t really go into it thinking this is going to be my night, because I think every night is going to be my night.”
