The Kansas City Chiefs may release Super Bowl hero and wide receiver, Marquez Valdes-Scantling to the market next month. According to a report, the Chiefs will make a significant amount of money if they part ways with him. The team finds themselves in a predicament in their salary cap moving forward this offseason. Kansas City has plenty of avenues to free up space, but this may mean letting some of their star players test free agency.
Players like Chris Jones and Clyde Edwards-Helaire may not return to the team due to the salary cap casualty. This would include Valdes-Scantling, having a great output in the playoffs this year. The former fifth-round pick hauled in only 21 passes 315 yards and a touchdown. He increased his production in this past postseason to 128 yards and a score in four games.
However, it wasn’t enough to prove that he was living up to his salary. Valdes-Scantling is carrying a $14 million cap charge for the 2024-25 season, so the Chiefs may not give him that money. A source added his name to the list of potential cap casualty candidates which added fuel to the fire. Many insiders are arguing that Valdes-Scantling should be cut this offseason.
Despite that, he caught a touchdown during the game to help the Chiefs win their back-to-back Super Bowl ring in overtime. Patrick Mahomes credited him for being the unsung hero, but he’s still likely a cut before the market begins. If they cut him, they would be able to save $12 million against the cap while incurring $2 million in dead money.
The Kansas City Chiefs can create $12M in 2024 cap space by releasing WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling while only taking on $2M in dead money. The most likely outcome for MVS as he is heading into the final season of his contract with the Chiefs while the team looks to re-stock the WR… pic.twitter.com/MIFGAXrUag
— Tanner Phifer (@TannerPhiferNFL) February 21, 2024
Kansas City Chiefs May Release Super Bowl Hero Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Chiefs Had a Lot of Poor WR Play in 2023
The Chiefs receiving corps struggled for most of the regular season. Mahomes had very slim options at the receiving end like Travis Kelce and rookie Rashee Rice. However, they had Kadarius Toney and Mecole Hardman but they struggled too like Valdes-Scantling. Even after his spectacular play in the Super Bowl, they are still convinced that they may need to hit reset on their wide receiving corps.
The Chiefs only have about $15 million in cap space but that won’t last long until they need to extend a couple of their star players. Jones still needs to be extended but that seems very unlikely since he’ll want a big contract. Kansas City could find a WR2 to replace Valdes-Scantling and build around Rice as their WR1 for the upcoming season. It would take a restructured contract for him to likely return to the team, but his productivity still isn’t convincing the Chiefs.
His valuable assets like leadership, speed and run blocking would be missed but it wasn’t enough for Mahomes to find the open man. Those assets weren’t enough at the capacity that Kansas City was expecting. There is expected to be a huge change in the WR room if they remove Valdes-Scantling from the lineup. According to sources, the Chiefs are favorites to land Mike Evans from the Buccaneers.
Possible Destinations for Valdes-Scantling
There will be numerous teams that will be on the lookout for a new wide receiver to hit the market. A list of possible teams includes the Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Chargers and Dallas Cowboys. The Ravens have one of the most complete rosters but they’ll need a new receiver after Odell Beckham Jr. is set to hit the market. The Chargers could lose Mike Willams due to cap issues so Valdes-Scantling could be an option.
For the Cowboys, they’re focused on extending their stars like Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. So they may let go of Michael Gallup after a disappointing outing last season.
