Kansas City will release Valdes-Scantling on Wednesday, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports.
Valdes-Scantling's only chance of remaining with the Chiefs would have been to restructure the final year of his three-year, $30 million contract, but Kansas City will instead cut him loose to save roughly $12 million in cap space. The savings are a necessity for the Chiefs, who are hoping to retain defensive stalwarts L'Jarius Sneed and Chris Jones this offseason on longer-term deals. Valdes-Scantling did little across 16 regular-season games in 2023, with just 21 catches for 315 yards and one touchdown on 42 targets. Back in 2022, he essentially doubled that production in one extra game played. The 29-year-old deep threat will now look to find a complementary role in a wide receiver corps elsewhere in the league.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Candidate to be released
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Kansas City may release Valdes-Scantling this offseason, a move that would clear up $12 million in cap space, according to Nate Taylor of The Athletic.
It's a no-brainer move barring a renegotiated contract, despite Valdes-Scantling's contributions in the playoffs the past two seasons. He's won two rings since signing a three-year, $30 million contract with the team in March 2022, but he caught only 21 passes for 315 yards and one touchdown in 16 games during the 2023 regular season. Valdes-Scantling will turn 30 years old next October and has never reached 700 yards in a season despite taking nearly all of his NFL snaps with either Patrick Mahomes or Aaron Rodgers under center.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Ices game with big reception
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Valdes-Scantling caught both of his targets for 38 yards in Sunday's 17-10 AFC Championship win over the Ravens.
Valdes-Scantling began Kansas City's final offensive drive with just one reception for six yards before getting loose over the top for a 32-yard reception that allowed his team to run out the clock and advance to Super Bowl LVIII. That's now two consecutive weeks in which the 29-year-old wideout made clutch receptions to help his team ice playoff victories. Valdes-Scantling will attempt to work his postseason magic as one of superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes' auxiliary options in Las Vegas on Sunday, Feb. 11.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Redemption in divisional round
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Valdes-Scantling recorded two receptions on four targets for 62 yards in Sunday's 27-24 win over the Bills.
Valdes-Scantling got attention this season for the wrong reasons, as he often squandered opportunities with drops. However, he delivered key receptions of 32 and 30 yards in the Chiefs' win, both of which helped set up touchdowns later in the drive. It was Valdes-Scantling's highest yardage total since Week 7 and the first time he topped 30 receiving yards in that span. With Kadarius Toney (hip) struggling to get healthy and Mecole Hardman losing a key fumble Sunday, Valdes-Scantling may be called upon once again in the AFC Championship Game against Baltimore.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Held to one catch in wild-card round
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Valdes-Scantling recorded one catch for eight yards on two targets Saturday in the Chiefs' 26-7 win over the Dolphins in the wild-card round.
Valdes-Scantling returned to action after he was active for the Chiefs' 13-12 win over the Chargers in the regular-season finale Jan. 7, though he didn't actually play any snaps in the contest while Kansas City held out several key players with its postseason positioning already locked up. The 29-year-old turned in a disappointing season overall, with his 21-315-1 receiving line on 42 targets over 16 appearances marking a steep decline from his already modest outputs of 42 catches for 687 yards and two touchdowns over his 17 appearances in 2022, his first campaign in Kansas City. Valdes-Scantling has one more season left on his three-year contract, but barring a dramatic turnaround in his performance over the duration of the postseason, the Chiefs will likely move on from the veteran wideout this offseason or rework his contract.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Minimal output versus Bengals
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Valdes-Scantling gathered in one of three targets for three yards during Sunday's 25-17 win against Cincinnati.
Valdes-Scantling certainly hasn't produced at a level that satisfies the terms of his contract for the 2023 campaign, catching no more than three passes in a contest, which occurred only once in Week 7. He has only one touchdown this year and has clearly fallen behind in the target pecking order, so from a fantasy perspective, there's little reason to show much interest in the veteran. He still plays plenty, however, logging the second-most snaps among wideouts in Week 17. With the Chiefs locked into the No. 3 playoff seed, it's possible some players could get a rest in Week 18 to ensure they are healthy for the postseason.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Blanked in Week 16
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Valdes-Scantling did not catch his only target in Monday's 20-14 loss versus the Raiders.
Despite leading Kansas City's wide receivers in snaps Monday (58), Valdes-Scantling was only able to draw one target, which he couldn't haul in. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes didn't have much time in the pocket, so the longer routes that are Valdes-Scantling's calling card were simply not in play for much of the game. He'll look to bounce back in Week 17 versus the Bengals.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: One target in Week 15
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Valdes-Scantling secured his only target for 17 yards in Sunday's 27-17 win over the Patriots.
Valdes-Scantling saw just one target on a day that quarterback Patrick Mahomes attempted 37 passes. The veteran wideout has played at least one-third of the Chiefs' snaps on offense in all 14 games this season, but he hasn't exceeded five targets in any outing and has cleared 50 receiving yards on just one occasion.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Reels in two catches
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Valdes-Scantling secured two of four targets for 22 yards in Sunday's 20-17 loss to the Bills.
Valdes-Scantling continued his disappointing season Sunday, catching just two passes for the second straight week. The veteran wideout played 22 of the Chiefs' 66 offensive snaps, behind Rashee Rice (56), Justin Watson (36), Kadarius Toney (29) and Skyy Moore (23). Since Kansas City's Week 9 bye, Valdes-Scantling is roughly averaging a 45 percent snap share compared to the 61 percent average he saw in the first eight games. Seeing such limited opportunities, the 29-year-old is an untrustworthy fantasy option in most formats. he'll look to make the most of his opportunities in Week 15 when the Chiefs visit the Patriots.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Modest production in loss
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Valdes-Scantling caught two of five targets for 25 yards in Sunday's 27-19 loss to the Packers.
Valdes-Scantling's five targets tied a season-high that he previously set back in Week 7. Even so, the veteran wideout didn't do much with his opportunities while facing off against his former team. Valdes-Scantling has averaged just 16.1 receiving yards per game while finding the end zone only once through 12 appearances, making him difficult to trust as a weekly lineup option even in deeper leagues.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Another lackluster showing
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Valdes-Scantling gathered in two of three targets for 22 yards during Sunday's 21-14 victory against the Dolphins.
Valdes-Scantling hasn't claimed more than three passes in a game yet this season as part of a Chiefs offense that hasn't quite kept pace with Kansas City's high-powered offenses in years past. MVS should continue to see consistent reps, but he's not a priority target in the passing attack and will likely remain a touchdown-dependent fantasy option each week.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Best game of season in win
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Valdes-Scantling secured three of five targets for 84 yards and a touchdown in the Chiefs' 31-17 win over the Chargers on Sunday.
Valdes-Scantling finished a distant second in receiving yards to Travis Kelce on the afternoon for the Chiefs, but the veteran receiver's tally was his best of the season by far. Valdes-Scantling hadn't topped 48 receiving yards prior to Sunday, and the play that was integral to him eclipsing that mark, his early-second-quarter 46-yard touchdown reception, also served as his first score of the campaign. Despite the encouraging numbers Sunday, MVS remains a highly speculative fantasy option week-to-week due to the Chiefs' propensity for spreading the ball around to an inordinate number of targets.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: One target in Week 6
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Valdes-Scantling didn't catch his lone target in Thursday's 19-8 win over the Broncos.
Valdes-Scantling's only target came on a Patrick Mahomes throwaway, as the receiver corralled the ball well past the back of the end zone. While nobody has emerged as the clear No. 1 option in Kansas City's muddled wide receiver room, Valdes-Scantling has been closer to the bottom than the top, with just seven catches through six games and no more than one reception in any of the past four.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Pedestrian line again
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Valdes-Scantling had one reception (on two targets) for 12 yards during Sunday's 27-20 victory versus the Vikings.
Valdes-Scantling has just a single catch on two targets to his name in each of the last three contests and no more than two in a game through the first five weeks, so it's likely not worth rostering the veteran wideout in most formats. An injury or two in the passing attack won't change much either, as MVS still led wideouts in offensive snaps (65 percent) while producing next to nothing in the box score, so there's little upside to his profile at this point.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Limited impact in Week 4
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Valdes-Scantling gathered in one of his two targets for six yards during Sunday's 23-20 victory over the Jets.
After logging the most or second-most snaps among Chiefs receivers in the first three games, Valdes-Scantling fell to third in that count (34) Sunday evening behind Justin Watson (43) and Skyy Moore (41). MVS has just six catches for 104 yards through the first four games, and there's little to suggest things are trending in a positive direction for the veteran deep threat, especially with rookie Rashee Rice nipping at his heels for playing time and Justin Watson surpassing him in snaps. Given the Valdes-Scantling has just nine targets to his name through four games, he's far from a worthwhile fantasy option in most formats.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Held to two catches again
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Valdes-Scantling recorded two receptions for 13 yards on three targets in Sunday's 17-9 win over the Jaguars.
For the second week in a row, Valdes-Scantling was limited to just two receptions, and all three of his targets came in the short areas of the field. The 28-year-old has the ability to stretch the field after recording 13 receptions of 20-plus yards in 2022, but Justin Watson has looked like the Chiefs' top deep threat through the first two weeks. Even though Valdes-Scantling is the highest-paid and nominal No. 1 wideout for Kansas City, tight end Travis Kelce remains the clear top priority in the Chiefs' passing game. Aside from Kelce, target counts could remain highly volatile for all other members of the Kansas City pass-catching corps from week to week.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Listed as starter on depth chart
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Valdes-Scantling was listed as a starting receiver on the Chiefs' unofficial depth chart released Wednesday, Blair Kerkhoff of The Kansas City Star reports.
Alongside Valdes-Scantling as a starting wideout is 2022 second-round pick Skyy Moore. With the status of Kadarius Toney (knee) in question for Week 1, Valdes-Scantling and Moore have been getting all of the first-team reps throughout training camp. Valdes-Scantling should have better chemistry with Patrick Mahomes in their second season together. The veteran wide receiver is looking to improve on his 42-687-2 receiving line from last season.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Goes quiet in Super Bowl
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Valdes-Scantling didn't reel in his only target during the Super Bowl versus the Eagles.
After a breakout effort during the AFC Championship win over the Bengals, where he recorded six catches for 116 yards and a touchdown, the deep threat was held in check against the Eagles. He closed out the playoffs with seven catches for 122 yards and a pair of scores after compiling 42 grabs for 687 yards and a pair of touchdowns during the regular season. MVS' deal with the Chiefs extends through the 2024 campaign, so he will likely retain a similar role in 2023.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Delivers best game of season
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Valdes-Scantling brought in six of eight targets for 116 yards and a touchdown during the Chiefs' 23-20 win over the Bengals in Sunday's AFC Championship Game.
The talented speedster put together his best yardage total yet as a Chief and produced his second touchdown in as many weeks via a 19-yard scoring grab with 4:15 remaining in the third quarter. His yardage tally also was a team-high figure, and thanks in part to in-game injuries to JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee), Mecole Hardman (pelvis) and Kadarius Toney (ankle), Valdes-Scantling's target mark also tied Travis Kelce's for tops on Kansas City. Valdes-Scantling could be headed for another busy day in Super Bowl LVII versus the Eagles in two weeks' time, not only because of his field-stretching capability, but due to the potential absence or limitations of some of his fellow wideouts as well.
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Chiefs' Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Light tally to close regular season
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Valdes-Scantling gathered in three of targets for 27 yards during Saturday's 31-13 victory over the Raiders.
Valdes-Scantling compiled three or fewer catches for the fifth straight game, didn't top 28 receiving yards in any of the final five weeks and had just one touchdown to his name all season. The deep threat didn't really live up to what Kansas City was aiming for when they signed him to a three-year contract before the season, though he did compile a career-high 42 catches and fell just three yards short of his career high in receiving yards with 687. MVS also drew 13 targets combined between the final two regular-season contests, so there is a chance he could make an impact in the postseason if he and Patrick Mahomes can connect on a deep shot.
