Before the Kansas City Chiefs signed wide receiver Marquez Valdez-Scantling on Thursday, the former Green Bay Packers player was reportedly received offers from three teams: Chiefs, Packers and New Orleans Saints. But speaking to reporters during his first press appearance in Kansas City on Friday, he said the Chiefs had only recently entered the game.
“Kansas City really wasn’t on my radar,” he told reporters. “My agent called me and said: “Tayrik can be sold from there. Are you interested in hearing what they have to say?” And I said, “Yes. one hundred%!”
“I’ve been talking to a bunch of teams over the course of a week, just sorting through everything. [and] trying to make the best decision; [I was] pray a lot about it. The opportunity came up and I said, “Of course I would be interested. I love playing with Pat!”
But for the former South Florida player, the solution wasn’t just to get passes from quarterback Patrick Mahomes. After all, he spent the first four years of his NFL career catching them off Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
“Obviously, Aaron and I have a great relationship,” he admitted. “It was very hard to even leave, because I still had the opportunity to go and play with him for the rest of his career, be it a year, two, three. [years] or how long he decides to come in and play.
“I turned down the opportunity and faced a very similar quarterback. Obviously, in terms of talent, they were both MVPs. [and] both won the Super Bowl – so obviously both [excellent] footballers. I just think this opportunity to build something long-term with Pat will change my life.”
Photo by Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images
And Valdez-Scantling (who was happy to explain to reporters that his name was pronounced mar-QUEZ and not mar-QUEZ or mar-QES) said it wasn’t just about the money, even though his superiors offered him more than Greene. -Bay or New Orleans.
“[The Chiefs are] do a lot of great things – and they fight for the championship year after year,” he said. “I turned down a lot of other deals to get more money because I didn’t want to go out and lose. I’m very competitive, so it’s not always about the money. This was the reason why my decision was not made within a week.”
And for Valdez-Scantling, the success of a team — and what he considers ideal for himself — starts with the people at the top: head coach Andy Reed and offensive coordinator Eric Binemi.
“Obviously Coach Reid has been successful for a very long time,” he said. “[He’s] one of the best offensive coaches. Same thing with EB. I think they’ve done a great job in the last four years I’ve been in the league, throwing one of the best offenses year after year. So having a coach who can pass the ball to the guys is always important. He found ways – no matter what kind of lighting they were in – to get the guys the ball. And it’s huge.”
Valdes-Scantling said he had already contacted Mahomes.
“He called me as soon as I landed in Kansas City,” he said of his new quarterback. “[He] told me how much he wanted me there. It was nice to even just hear that. As soon as I signed the contract, he was one of the first to call me to reach out and tell me how excited he was. And then we talked about maybe coming to Texas and hanging out with him and some other guys. So that would be nice to do.”
Considering the size of the shoes he’ll need to tuck into Kansas City, it won’t just be good. Which will be great.