The Packers, who entered the offseason with one of the worst salary cap situations in the league, were expecting to lose free agent WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling to another team. But after the Davante Adams trade opened up cap room and created a glaring need for receiving talent, Green Bay made a late push to re-sign MVS, as Tom Silverstein of of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. This jibes with an earlier report that the Packers were hoping to convince the four-year pro to stay.
Ultimately, the Chiefs — who had a receiver need of their own after trading Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins — landed Valdes-Scantling on a three-year, $30MM contract ($18MM guaranteed). It’s unclear if that was a more lucrative deal than what Green Bay was offering, or if Valdes-Scantling simply decided that Kansas City represented a better opportunity.
One way or another, it seems that the 27-year-old deep threat fared better on the open market than he was expecting. Per Silverstein, MVS was aiming for a one-year pact worth between $7MM-$10MM when free agency opened, though he believed that such a contract would include void years for cap purposes. But in addition to the Chiefs and Packers, the Saints were also in the running, as Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network tweets, and having a number of interested clubs helped to drive up the asking price.
Valdes-Scantling is obviously not a perfect replacement for Hill, one of the game’s most talented receivers. Still, MVS’ big-play abilities — he boasts a career 17.5 YPR average — should nicely complement the skill-sets of fellow wideout Mecole Hardman, TE Travis Kelce, and new slot receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, and after dropping seven passes in 2020, he muffed just one in 2021.
The Packers and Saints, meanwhile, will continue to search for upgrades. Green Bay may be interested in free agents like Will Fuller and Odell Beckham, while New Orleans has been connected to Jarvis Landry. Both clubs could also turn to the draft, which is deep in WR talent.
I know Rodgers is great but this might be the worst group of receivers he’s ever played with. Even if they draft a WR in the first round and signed one of the left over wideouts available that’s still a huge step down from what he’s used to unless that rookie is a Chase or Jefferson type which is a big if.
Easily the worst IMO. He’s had at least 1 of: Adams, Nelson, Jennings, Driver, James Jones and Cobb throughout his career.
It’s interesting Gute and Co had the foresight to plan for potentially replacing Rodgers and the Aaron jones/Jamaal Williams rb tandem but the highest pick they’ve spent on a wr in recent years was a third rounder on Amari Rodgers last year. The most successful wr pick since Adams is..MVS..? As of now they have an unproven Amari, the ghost of Cobb and solid but certainly not spectacular Allan Lazard. Ugh.
There is SO much time to fix this, and cap money and draft capital to do it with. Don’t be surprised to see one or both of, say, Tyler Lockettt and DeVante Parker, coupled with a first rounder, to add to the three you mentioned. It’s way too early to panic. Last I checked, the season starts in September. It’s still March.
Panicked? No. Concerned? Yes. But not because it’s March, or there’s not enough time to do something. I’m concerned based on several years of essentially ignoring a position group in free agency, the draft and trade market, and now the 1 constant is gone.
Also, I remember a handful of people saying there was no point in drafting a wr because “it takes 2-3 years to develop” and here we are even further behind the curve.
Of course there is. It’s also an exceptionally deep draft class at WRer.
Manny Pina here is just a notoriously whinny fan who LOVES to be as fatalistic as possible.
We’ll go into the year with the best defense we’ve had on paper since 2010.
We’ve got an elite OL assuming Jenkins comes back healthy…and given it was a cleaner tear than Bakh and he’s younger, no reason to expect he’ll be on the long end of the return schedule. Same with Tonyan, both of whom were injured much earlier in the year.
And we’ve got an elite RB duo.
They’ll likely sign a cheaper option like a Will Fuller, and they could easily draft guys like Burks, Moore, Watson, Tolbert or others in the 1st couple rounds(if they don’t trade up) along with McBride in the 2nd and…they’ve got a back to back MVP at QB.
For fans who watched this team in the 90s, they weren’t bursting with WRer talent…and certainly not the year they won when their top WRer went down with injury and they had Don Bebbe putting up 200 yard games and Andre Rison making big plays in the Super Bowl.
THEY’LL BE FINE.
This is the worst WRing core Rodgers has had since he’s come into the league AT THIS POINT, but as you point out, there’s plenty of time to add several options…and they may end up better off with more options and Rodgers not zeroing in on Adams which results in Rodgers throwing into double coverage when he’s got two guys wide open…
Fatalistic eh? I guess you missed the dozen or so posts where I emphatically explained how Gute and Co could and would get under the cap. Were (are) you in prison and only get internet privileges every 2-3 weeks or something? I mean it took you 2 weeks to reply here so just curious.
Also weird that you equate concern with fatalistic…in regard to 1 specific topic. Especially considering what I said is factual. But hey, you keep doing you. I look forward to your next LONG WINDED reply..sometime in early May.
Cool…you posted how they could create salary cap space. And that’s impressive somehow to you?
And yes, because I don’t reply to you constantly, that MUST only mean I’m…in jail. That tracks…at least as much as most of your statements.
Now you switched from fatalistic to unimpressive. Neat. I contradict your accusation, and you spin it to something else.
Ok, I never claimed to be impressive either, but convincing people on here that something rather simple is actually possible is kind of impressive.
What next? Claim I’m not a GB fan at all, like you swear I’m not a Brewers fan?
He’s not worth 3/30 so GB is better off anyways. There’s better WRs on the market that haven’t signed yet.
Like who? I’m not being smart – I haven’t keep up with who’s still on the market.
If they want to take a risk on injuries, OBJ and Julio Jones are still available.
Both Jarvis Landry and Cole Beasley come to mind if you want to negate both Jones and OBJ for being injury prone.
There’s really nobody. MVS was banged up last year, but he was finally developing into a complete WRer. Route running was vastly improved…he was much more reliable as a pass catcher.
And he’s got experience with Rodgers.
But, 2 years 125M guaranteed, a loaded defense and with the return on Bakhtiari and Jenkins, the OL should be elite. So Rodgers should be able to get the most out of the WRing core they end up with.
MVS is primed to break out and I’m guessing in a year people will look back on this as a great signing for KC. He and Juju are both going to be viewed as really smart signings most likely.
But, over now. They need to hit on their draft picks. They could end up with Treyvon Burks in Rd and Dohtson in Rd 1 and then hopefully McBride and an Edge rusher/DE in the 2nd.
It’s the NFL. The real contract is the $18 million guaranteed! In the KC offense, although they need him to produce, they need his presence almost just as much. That speed presence is a big part of what KC does on offense – it will open up the field vertically, so they can do their thing horizontally. His presence will ops. Things up for Kelcie, Hardeman and the run game.
C’est la vie to a guy has one route… A Jet route and only catches 1 of 4 balls that hit his hands… And the ones he catches he fumbles half of those!!!
How or why is Rodgers willing to let his entire great supporting cast go. Does he really only care about the money and not winning another SB. What are really his motives?
I have this strange feeling that Josh Gordon is ready to be the man again and will be huge next season in KC. This is why Hill was traded to make room for Gordon and the savings of course to the Cap.
With that big fat new contract Rodgers has, anybody surprised over cap issues in Green Bay…..yeh, it’s only March, but look what the contracts of Prescott and Elliot are doing to the Dallas roster….same thing beginning to happen in Green Bay…..Can Rodgers throw and catch the ball himself?
And by the way he asked for this!