For much of the 2023 season, Marquez Valdes-Scantling was considered part of the problem for the Kansas City Chiefs. Over the course of the entire year from Week 1 until Week 18, you could argue that no receiver drew more ire from fans and analysts than MVS, Kadarius Toney aside.

And really, it was warranted for the most part. The deep threat who came up with the Green Bay Packers was certainly getting his share of targets down the field and, to his credit, he was open quite a bit. However, the issues was a pretty crucial aspect of making a big play — he was exceptionally inconsistent at making the catch.

Things turned on a dime once the playoffs rolled around, though. While he wasn’t reeling off 50-yard catch after 50-yard catch, MVS proved to be a far more reliable cog in the passing attack led by Patrick Mahomes than most of the other secondary targets in the offense by a longshot.

Because of that postseason emergence, some fans had wondered what that would mean for Valdes-Scantling with the Chiefs in the 2024 season. Unfortunately, though, the writing does appear to be on the wall that he simply just might not be with Kansas City in the 2024 season.

With the Chiefs staring down the barrel of Chris Jones and L’Jarius Sneed hitting free agency, there is a dire need to clear up cap space where they can. And the fact that MVS is making a whopping $12 million on the books for 2024 is glaring. Even more glaring, as pointed out by Arrowhead Pride, is that Kansas City could save $10 million of that with only $2 million in dead cap if they were to release him this offseason.

Despite Valdes-Scantling coming through in the playoffs, the totality of his work with the Chiefs was less than stellar. That’s not something a franchise in Kansas City’s current situation can viably work with, so it seems almost a formality at this point that Valdes-Scantling won’t be back with the champs next year — at least not on his current deal.