Now fully immersed with his new (old) team, wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling wants let everyone know why he’s back in Pittsburgh. He spoke candidly about how Aaron Rodgers, his former quarterback from his time with the Green Bay Packers early in his career and briefly in 2025 with the Steelers, was the driving force to wanting to sign back with the Steelers once he was on the hunt for a new team.
Valdes-Scantling revealed insight from his conversations with Rodgers leading up to his signing earlier in the week. He felt wanted by both the Steelers and Rodgers.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling Spoke With Aaron Rodgers Before Signing With Steelers
“They obviously wanted me back, and there was a lot of moving parts,” Valdes-Scantling told Brendan Howe of Steelers Now after said after Wednesday’s practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “I talked to Aaron [Rodgers] shortly after, and he told me what was going on here. We’ll see if it works out.”
And even though he has experience playing with Rodgers, and also under head coach Mike McCarthy, who was still leading the Packers during Valdes-Scantling’s rookie year, Valdes-Scantling knows he will still have to undergo an adjustment period.
“Obviously, I’ve been here a grand total of 12 hours, so there’s gonna be an acclimation period,” Valdes-Scantling. “But there’s a lot of carryover from my rookie year, some stuff from last year. Obviously, there’s a lot of history with Aaron and I, so just being able to get on the same page with him, it should be fairly quick.”
But he’s confident in his ability to be a quick learner and fit into any offensive scheme.
“That started back in my rookie year,” Valdes-Scantling added. “As a fifth-round draft pick, I had to do anything to make the team, and so the best way I learned was to learn everything. And so I learned the game from a quarterback’s perspective and learned all the positions to be able to plug and play everywhere. So I developed that and kept it for the last nine years,” he explained.
Valdes-Scantling Enjoyed His Best Seasons Catching Passes From Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay
Drafted in the fifth round by the Green Bay Packers in 2018, Valdes-Scantling, now 32, played under Mike McCarthy for one season and caught passes from Aaron Rodgers for four. He made 38 receptions for 581 yards and a pair of touchdowns as a rookie with McCarthy running the Packers’ offense. Then following McCarthy’s Green Bay exit, Valdes-Scantling continued to develop chemistry with Rodgers over the next three seasons.
His best season came in 2020, when he caught 33 passes for his still career-high 690 yards with six touchdowns. Valdes-Scantling then signed a three-year, $30 million deal with the Kansas City Chiefs ahead of the 2022 season. He experienced being part of two Super Bowl winning teams in Kansas City before moving on and playing for the Bills and Saints in 2024 and with the 49ers the next season before being signed by the then Mike Tomlin-led Steelers in November.
Valdes-Scantling took part in three games this season with the Los Angeles Chargers, becoming available to the Steelers upon his Oct. 17 release.
In 119 games and 70 starts, Valdes-Scantling, who split his college career with two season each at North Carolina State and South Florida, has 221 receptions for 3,708 yards 21 touchdowns across nine seasons.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling Reveals Insight Into Pre-Signing Conversations With Aaron Rodgers