The Seahawks have started to address the wide-receiver spot they’ve depleted.
Seattle reached an agreement with recently well-traveled free agent Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a one-year contract. That’s per reports from NFL Media, ESPN and others Wednesday.
This will be his fourth team since the end of the 2023 season.
The one-year deal NFL Network reported could be worth up to $5.5 million with possible incentive bonuses. It was to become official after the start of the new league year at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
So will the Seahawks’ trade of DK Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a second-round draft choice. The teams agreed to that deal Sunday.
That move plus Seattle releasing 10-year veteran Tyler Lockett, its longest-tenured player, last week necessitated the Seahawks adding back to wide receiver. Two-year veteran Jaxon Smith-Njigba is coming off a team record-tying 100-catch season. He and third-year pro Jake Bobo were the team’s only wide receivers with appreciable playing-time experience in the NFL until Valdes-Scantling’s agreement.
The 30-year-old Valdes-Scantling finished this past season playing eight games for New Orleans. His offensive coordinator with the Saints was Klint Kubiak. The Seahawks hired Kubiak in late January to replace fired Ryan Grubb as their OC and play caller.
Valdes-Scantling, 6 feet 4 and 206 pounds, began last season with Buffalo. He had only nine targets and two receptions in six games with the Bills before they released him in October. He then had 17 catches on 35 targets with four touchdowns in his eight games for Kubiak and the Saints.
His most successful seasons were his first four in the NFL with Green Bay, after the Packers drafted him in the fifth round in 2018 out of North Carolina State. In 2020 he led the league averaging 20.9 yards per catch on 65 receptions with Aaron Rodgers throwing to him on the Packers.
He signed with Kansas City before the 2022 season, after Green Bay let his rookie contract expire. He had a career-high 42 catches in his first season with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. He had 21 receptions in 2023 before Kansas City released him.
The Seahawks still need more receivers for new quarterback Sam Darnold. The addition of Valdes-Scantling does not preclude the Seahawks from continuing to re-stock their receiver position in the now-secondary wave of free agency, and in the draft next month. Seattle has 10 selections in this year’s draft. Five are in the first 92 picks.
Then-Saints wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling (10) walks the field before a game against the Las Vegas Raiders Dec. 29, 2024 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. The Seahawks agreed to a one-year, free-agent contract with the 30-year-old veteran on March 12, 2025. Matthew Hinton/USA TODAY NETWORK
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