Ex-Bills WR Lands With New Team Days After Release

Getty Marquez Valdes-Scantling walks onto the field before a Buffalo Bills game.

The Buffalo Bills parted ways with Marquez Valdes-Scantling last week in order to clear a spot on the roster for the newly acquired Amari Cooper.

Now, less than a week later, Valdes-Scantling has a new home.

Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reported on Oct. 21 that Valdes-Scantling was signing with the New Orleans Saints. The two-time Super Bowl winner struggled to carve out a regular role in Buffalo, but now will have the chance to take on a more significant role on a slumping team hit hard by injuries.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling Struggled in Buffalo

Valdes-Scantling joined the Bills last offseason amid a major shakeup in the wide receiver room. The Bills traded away top receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans and allowed No. 2 Gabe Davis to leave in free agency, replacing them with a mix of veterans like Valdes-Scantling and rookie Keon Coleman.

Though the Bills espoused a philosophy of “everybody eats” in the passing game, spreading targets among the group of receivers, Valdes-Scantling struggled to find a regular role. He appeared in six games this season but made just two catches for 26 yards.

https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/1848483917591941231

Valdes-Scantling came to the Bills after two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he won two Super Bowl titles and made a total of 63 catches for 1,002 yards and three touchdowns.

The veteran receiver now joins a Saints team hit with injuries. The team lost budding star Rashid Shaheed to a season-ending knee injury, with John Sigler of USA Today’s Saints Wire suggesting Valdes-Scantling might be able to make up some of his lost production.

“Like Shaheed, Valdes-Scantling is known as a deep threat, though he outweighs the injured Pro Bowler by 26 pounds,” Sigler wrote. “Valdes-Scantling is a bigger target at 6-foot-4 with a 78-inch wingspan compared to the 6-foot Shaheed’s 73-inch wingspan. He also clocked the 40 yard dash in 4.37 seconds coming out of college back in 2018.”

The Saints are in need of a boost on offense, averaging just 17.2 points per game during a five-game losing streak after starting the season 2-0 and scoring 91 total points in those games.

Amari Cooper’s Fast Start in Buffalo

Last week’s trade with the Cleveland Browns aimed to give the Bills the No. 1 receiver they have been lacking this season, and Cooper was able to fill that role on short notice. Despite joining the team on Tuesday, he was able to play in Sunday’s 34-10 win over the Tennessee Titans and made four catches for 66 yards, including a touchdown on his first reception with the team.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen praised Cooper’s professionalism for jumping into the offense so quickly and making an immediate impact.

“I think being seven years in the league now, just like understanding guys of [Cooper’s] caliber, they don’t need a lot,” Allen said, via ESPN. “They go out there, give him a clear mind, let him go play. That’s what he did out there a couple times, just finding zones, finding windows. He made a really good catch on that slant. But, again, just the professionalism that he has, the ability that he has, just trusting what I see with him, and things will turn out pretty good.”