Tag: Marques Valdes-Scantling

Ranking the AFC West by wide receiver trios

How do the teams stack up at the wide receiver spot in the AFC West?

The top and the bottom of the AFC West at quarterback is fairly easy to quantify. But which of those QBs will be armed with the best receiving corps as targets? It was not an easy exercise and you come to realize that each team in this division is pretty well stacked at the position.

It sure seems like nobody wants to play with Aaron Rodgers

It looks like free agent receivers are doing their own research.

There’s no denying Aaron Rodgers is one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. The moment he retires, he’ll be a shoo-in First-Ballot Hall of Famer for Canton.

Yet, part of being a great quarterback is convincing other great players to join you. After their third-consecutive 13-win season, the Packers recently traded All-Pro Davante Adams. Green Bay now needs all the help possible to get over the hump and win a second Super Bowl with Rodgers. Someone has to put on their brave face, talk, and be friendly to free agents. You know, to live, real human beings. Gah! Scary! That takes energy and time!

For as much as Rodgers can spin a football, communicating with people and meeting them where they are doesn’t appear to be a notch he possesses on his belt. That kind of flies in the face of a self-professed belief last summer that “people are coming to play with him.”

Look no further than two playmakers — Robert Woods and Marquez Valdes-Scantling — who could’ve helped the Packers but instead spurned them.

In Woods’ case, the defending Super Bowl champion Rams were set to release the veteran. L.A. recently signed Allen Robinson and wanted to move in a different direction at receiver. It didn’t help that Woods is still recovering from a torn ACL suffered last November.

Out of respect for their soon-to-be-former player, they more or less let the 29-year-old Woods choose his next destination in a trade. He did not select Green Bay, with the NFL’s reigning MVP in Rodgers, where, on paper, he would’ve been a perfect fit on the field and financially. The Packers have over $17 million in salary-cap space, according to Over The Cap, and Woods carries a mere $10 million cap hit next season.

He picked Nashville, classic overachiever Ryan Tannehill, and the Titans.

Via ESPN’s Turron Davenport:

“The Rams gave Woods the opportunity to choose where he’d suit up next and, although there were a few teams he liked, Woods quickly decided he wanted to be traded to the Titans.”

Oh, that’s not so bad. Nashville can be a beautiful place to live. Wait a minute.

Woods did his research on his next potential team. Oh no. Bad news for Rodgers and the Packers?

More from ESPN:

“‘They told me I’d have a say in where I’d be traded,’ Woods said at his introductory news conference. “I did my research and spoke with past players that were here. And just having a relationship with Todd Downing and Rob Moore already from being in Buffalo. Then Derrick Henry, Ryan Tannehill, A.J. Brown … they’re a top-performing team and the Coach of the Year [Mike Vrabel], so joining this team is beneficial for my career.'”

Okay, so Green Bay wasn’t Woods’ first choice. It happens. You live, and you learn. The Rams themselves could also have eliminated the Packers as an option entirely, considering they’ll likely be an obstacle in L.A’s path to a repeat title. Rodgers and GM Brian Gutekunst deserve some of the benefits of the doubt.

Losing out on Woods couldn’t hurt anyway because Valdes-Scantling was a shoo-in to return. The Packers drafted him, developed him, gave him a chance in the NFL with one of the league’s premier organizations. Who wouldn’t want to come back to the Green Bay Packers and chase the ghosts of Lambeau and Lombardi with Aaron Rodgers?

As it turns out, not Valdes-Scantling. He’ll be leaving the tall tales behind to wear Chiefs’ red and gold while catching bombs from Patrick Mahomes for at least the next couple of years.

So much for the Packers’ mystique buoyed by Rodgers.

Green Bay is by no means out of championship contention. They may have missed out on two potential fill-ins for Adams, but a healthy Rodgers will always make them a contender.

You still have to wonder whether Rodgers’ previously stated recruiting mindset is grounded in reality. Because when push came to shove, one of the league’s top receivers in Woods chose an objectively worse quarterback and subjectively worse team situation. The other, Valdes-Scantling, who Rodgers helped mature, packed his bags for an arguably better quarterback, and left town in the Packers’ time of need.

Who knows? Perhaps a receiver looks at Rodgers and decides to set course for Green Bay someday soon. But amidst two big fish ignoring Green Bay entirely, you have to wonder whether the aging Rodgers should’ve spent more time working on his people skills throughout his career.

[mm-video type=video id=01fyyre5ryj55f8384sc playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fyyre5ryj55f8384sc/01fyyre5ryj55f8384sc-eb3bc3e9dff8871291aa95ebd157b6f5.jpg]

[listicle id=1864500]