Ex-Chiefs 2-Time Champion WR Resurfaces With Super Bowl Rival

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Veteran wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling with the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII.

Not too long ago, veteran wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling was securing a key touchdown catch for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2023-24 Super Bowl versus the San Francisco 49ers.

But on August 28, 2025, Valdes-Scantling turned up with the former two-time championship game opponent of the Chiefs. ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reported “MVS” to San Francisco, noting that the big-play pass-catcher is joining the Niners’ practice squad to start.

Valdes-Scantling was a bit of an odd case study in KC. During the regular season, he never lived up to the three-year, $30 million contract that the Chiefs initially offered him in free agency, but he did come up clutch in the playoffs more often than not.

After all, MVS is a two-time Super Bowl champion and he didn’t just earn his rings as participation trophies. Valdes-Scantling racked up 122 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns during his first postseason run with the Chiefs — which ended in a Super Bowl victory over the Philadelphia Eagles — and another 128 receiving yards and 1 touchdown the following winter.

On the flip side, his two regular season outputs with Kansas City combined for just over 1,000 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns, total.

Things have not gone very well for MVS since parting ways with the Chiefs. He joined Buffalo over the 2024 offseason and only registered 2 catches there for a total of 26 yards.

Valdes-Scantling spent the rest of the year with the New Orleans Saints and performed much better, with 17 receptions for 385 yards and 4 touchdowns, but he did so away from the spotlight for a non-playoff team.

Signing with Seattle in 2025 free agency, MVS didn’t even survive the 53-man roster cutdown. Now, he’s resurfaced with the injury-ridden 49ers.

Chiefs QB Cut Ends Up Back With Browns’ Practice Squad

Valdes-Scantling wasn’t the only former Chief to pop up in the news on August 28.

Per Schefter once again, recent quarterback cut Bailey Zappe is signing with the practice squad of the Cleveland Browns.

The Chiefs and the Browns have sort of played hot potato with Zappe over the past couple of seasons, claiming and signing him back and forth.

In Cleveland, Zappe has a much better path to playing time despite there being three quarterbacks in front of him on the Browns’ active roster. And that’s simply because their starter is a 40-year-old Joe Flacco rather than Patrick Mahomes.

At best, Zappe has shown that he can run a competitive offense at the NFL level, but his ceiling is probably a plus-backup QB, not a full-time starter.

Zappe is a gunslinger, but he’s too inconsistent and careless with the football, and that’s where he gets himself in some trouble. Who knows, perhaps he’ll end up back with the Chiefs before the 2025 season is over.

Odds of a Chiefs & 49ers Three-Peat?

With Valdes-Scantling now on the 49ers, it’d be ironic if he eventually got promoted to the 53-man roster and met the Chiefs in the third recent Super Bowl final between the two franchises.

For Kansas City, you can never rule out a championship game return so long as Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid are in the picture. FanDuel Sportsbook gives the Chiefs +800 odds to win the Super Bowl in 2025-26, which is the third-best in the AFC by a slight margin.

The Niners’ odds are less favorable, at +1900, which is tied for fourth in the NFC.

Even so, a Chiefs and 49ers three-peat matchup is not out of the question, but San Francisco must get healthy while KC worries about overcoming another prolonged Rashee Rice absence.

Michael Obermuller covers the NFL for Heavy Sports, where he began writing in 2021. His areas of focus include the Kansas City Chiefs, New York Giants, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Pittsburgh Steelers, with expert knowledge on each based on years of coverage. Michael is an NYC area native and Quinnipiac graduate. More about Michael Obermuller