Marquez Valdes-Scantling Leaves Packers for Chiefs The only receivers with experience and chemistry with Aaron Rodgers without Davante Adams and Marquez Valdes-Scantling are Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb.
GREEN BAY, Wisconsin: Marquez Valdes-Scantling, a big-play receiver, is trading Aaron Rodgers to Patrick Mahomes. Tyreek Hill is also being traded by the Kansas City Chiefs for Valdes-Scantling.
Valdes-Scantling is inking a free-agent deal with the Chiefs, according to a source. That implies significant receiver rotations for two of the NFL’s top teams. The Packers lost Valdes-Scantling and traded All-Pro Davante Adams to the Raiders.And the Chiefs acquired Valdes-Scantling in lieu of All-Pro Hill by trading him to Miami.
The three-year agreement is valued at least $30 million and might reach $36 million. $500,000 for 60, $1 million for 70, $1.5 million for 80, and $2 million for 90 days are the annual prizes that are dependent on catches.
A few days ago, the Packers’ attempts to keep Valdes-Scantling were unsuccessful because of the price increase. When the Chiefs decided to let go of Hill, they pounced, and he picked Kansas City because of the quarterback (Patrick Mahomes) and the contract’s duration (three years as opposed to one year for Green Bay).
Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb are the only proven receivers under contract for the Green Bay Packers without Adams and Valdes-Scantling.
The Packers’ returning receivers will combine for 82 receptions for 1,005 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2021 without Valdes-Scantling, who grabbed 123 passes for 2,153 yards (17.5 average) and 13 touchdowns.
Cobb: 11 seasons, 591 receptions, 7,168 yards, 52 touchdowns; but, in the last two years, 64 receptions, 816 yards, and 8 touchdowns.
Lazard: in the last three seasons, 108 receptions, 1,441 yards, and 14 touchdowns.
Malik Taylor: 80 yards, 1 touchdown, 7 receptions in 2 seasons.
Juwann Winfree: in three seasons, eight receptions, 58 yards, and zero touchdowns. It was all produced during the previous season.
Amari Rodgers: 45 yards, 4 receptions, and 0 touchdowns in a single season.
The only receivers selected in the draft are Cobb (second round, 2011), Rodgers (third round, 2021), and Winfree (chosen by Denver in the sixth round, 2019). Drafted as a slot receiver, Rodgers’ rookie campaign was overshadowed by the return of fellow slot receiver Cobb. In his few snaps, Winfree had one drop and two fumbles.
Completing the depth chart are Chris Blair (who hasn’t played in two years) and Rico Gafford (two receptions in four years; didn’t play last year).
With Adams out of the picture, Aaron Rodgers would have had a seasoned receiving trio as a starting point if Valdes-Scantling had returned to complement Lazard and Cobb. Consequently, Rodgers would have had more time to get acquainted with the receiver or receivers the Packers, who will undoubtedly select two first-round and two second-round picks next month, select.
During the previous season, Rodgers expressed his pride in Valdes-Scantling’s development on multiple occasions.
“That’s the Marquez I know,” Rodgers remarked following a late-season victory over Baltimore, where he caught five catches for 98 yards on a day when the Ravens were all in to stop Davante Adams. “I just walked past him in the locker room,” Rodgers said.
“I’m incredibly proud of him. He has been engaged in combat. We wanted to help him regain his confidence because his back has been a little tight. He made some excellent catches in the second half after making a nice catch on an underthrown ball in the first. Aside from that, the slant for a touchdown is a terrific route and hands catch. In addition, it’s a nice hands catch and extension to the end zone to score that touchdown. That is the Marquez that we are all familiar and fond of.
Valdes-Scantling, an NFL proven-performance escalator selection in the fifth round of 2018, received a handsome pay raise to $2.183 million last year after meeting specific playing-time standards. Expectations were high going into the season after leading the NFL with a 20.9-yard average in 2020 and an impressive training camp this past summer.
He did, however, catch 26 of 55 passes (47.3%) for 430 yards (16.5 average) and three touchdowns in his limited 11 games (seven starts). He didn’t break any tackles and had zero drops, which is a significant improvement in his game, according to PFF.
It was the first season he missed games because of an injury.
Valdes-Scantling’s specialty is as a deep threat due to his exceptional size and quickness; he would have complemented Cobb and Amari Rodgers’ slot work as well as Lazard’s power game. PFF reports that in 2021, he grabbed only 6-of-22 (27.3%) throws thrown 20 yards or more downfield, with one touchdown, as opposed to 9-of-30 (30.0%) and five touchdowns in 2020. Aaron Rodgers was occasionally upset with himself because he never seemed to fully adjust to MVS’s game-changing speed.
Valdes-Scantling has six games with 100 yards or more in his 60 career appearances, including four in the postseason. His two losses came against Tampa Bay in the 2020 NFC Championship Game and the one he suffered at Minnesota in his final season.
Valdes-Scantling, who is primarily a secondary option, will undoubtedly enjoy the opportunity to play a larger role in an offense. The defensive backs avoided getting too close to Hill out of fear of being beaten deep. The Chiefs’ coach, Andy Reid, capitalized on this by playing a fast-paced style of play that gave Hill many yards after the catch and easy catches. Valdes-Scantling ought to be more involved in the game plan even though he doesn’t have Hill’s physique or quick quickness.
“It goes without saying that I feel like it will be my night every night. After the Baltimore game, he observed, “As a receiver, you have to have that mindset.” Davante is probably the same way. Every play, we want the ball. I want it if we can toss the ball 60 times and I receive 60 targets. That’s the general frame of thinking. Since I believe that every night will be my night, I don’t actually go into it expecting that this will be my night.
