Marquez Valdes-Scantling landing spots: Chiefs plan to release WR to save $12 million on the salary cap

Marquez Valdes-Scantling

The Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs have shifted from celebration mode to offseason mode, and Brett Veach has some big decisions to make in the coming months. The Chiefs reportedly made a money-saving transaction this week, as they plan to release wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling to save $12 million on the cap, per ESPN.

In 2023, MVS put up career-low numbers across the board with 315 receiving yards and one touchdown on 21 receptions in 16 games played. He infamously dropped what could have been the game-winning touchdown vs. the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 11, but did record a 62-yard outing vs. the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round, and caught a touchdown in the Super Bowl LVIII victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

The Chiefs receiving corps as a whole struggled in 2023. They finished the regular season with the most drops (28) and highest drop rate (12%) in the NFL. No other team had a wide receiver drop rate worse than 8.8% this year. Patrick Mahomes also had the worst TD-INT ratio (1-6) targeting wide receivers 10+ yards downfield in the NFL.

Valdes-Scantling, who primarily serves as a deep threat, came over to Kansas City in 2022 on a three-year, $30 million deal after spending four seasons with Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft out of South Florida. Valdes-Scantling’s best NFL campaign came in 2020, when he caught 33 passes for 690 yards and six touchdowns, while leading the league with 20.9 yards per reception.

Before this move, the Chiefs had $28.15 million in cap space, per Over The Cap, which ranked No. 17 in the league. Kansas City has some big-name free agents, such as star defensive tackle Chris Jones and cornerback L’Jarius Sneed. Tuesday, it was reported that the Chiefs are prepared to place the franchise tag on Sneed if they can’t agree to a new deal, and that both sides could be open to a trade as well.

Now that MVS is a free agent, where could he land? Let’s take a look.

New York Jets

Valdes-Scantling has said he’s played with the two best quarterbacks of all time in Mahomes and Rodgers. Why not be open to joining forces with Rodgers again? The Packers additions of Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard did not work out for the Jets last year, but MVS would come cheap, and would add that deep-ball receiving threat. The Jets are looking to add more weapons this offseason, and Rodgers would probably be open to this. Five of Valdes-Scantling’s six 100-yard games came with the Packers.

Philadelphia Eagles

You can never have enough weapons, and the Eagles will need to make some decisions with a couple of their free-agent wideouts in Olamide Zaccheaus and Quez Watkins. MVS could be a nice downfield threat for Jalen Hurts, and create some splash plays while secondaries focus on A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.

Tennessee Titans

The Titans are undergoing a shift in identity, as their offense will no longer be Derrick Henry running up the middle 50% of the time. With Brian Callahan in charge, you can expect more of a passing attack, and Tennessee is in position to potentially find success in this switch with the big-armed Will Levis. Callahan said at the NFL Combine on Tuesday that he’s looking for fast, explosive receivers. MVS can certainly stretch the defense, and shouldn’t come too expensive.