Kansas City Chiefs WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s three-year contract is looking a lot better than initially reported.
When news broke that the Chiefs had signed Valdes-Scantling, his deal was said to be a 3-year contract worth up to $36 million. When you get down to the brass tacks of it, the contract is really a year-by-year deal with built-in protections in Year 2 and Year 3 for Kansas City.
According to the folks at Over The Cap, only $8.56 million of the contract is fully guaranteed at signing. Valdes-Scantling will earn $2.56 million in guaranteed salary in 2022. With all of his bonus proration, his cap hit will be just $4.8 million in the first season.
If things don’t happen to go well in his first year, the Chiefs can release Valdes-Scantling before the third day of the new league year (when another $6.44 million becomes fully guaranteed) and save $7 million in cap space while only taking on $4 million in dead money.
If Valdes-Scantling exceeds expectations they can keep him on his contract in 2024 and it’ll likely look like a deal given the wide receiver market. If Valdes-Scantling doesn’t look like a good option for the team that season or the team is in need of cap space, they can get out of the contract that year with ease. It carries no guaranteed money in 2024 and the Chiefs can release him and save $14 million with just $2 million in dead cap space from his bonus proration.
Basically, this is an earn-your-keep contract for Valdes-Scantling. He’s betting on himself and that he can make the most out of this opportunity. If he proves to be a key factor in Andy Reid’s offense, he’ll likely be sticking around for at least two years. If he falters, he could be back on the free agent market sooner than later.
