Surprising contract details for new Bills WR revealed

Veteran wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling will be making a chunk of change with the Buffalo Bills.

Aug 19, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling (11) / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

It’s a good day to be Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

The veteran wide receiver reportedly inked a one-year deal with the Buffalo Bills on Tuesday morning after arriving in Orchard Park to visit the team on Monday evening. The signing will see the 29-year-old add experience and speed to a revamped Buffalo receiving corps that lost Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis in the offseason; Valdes-Scantling also brings a bit of championship pedigree to the unit, as he’s coming off back-to-back Super Bowl wins with the Kansas City Chiefs.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter has shared the terms of the contract, and they’re perhaps a bit more generous than one would anticipate for a mid-May (seemingly) depth acquisition. The insider reports that Valdes-Scantling is set to earn up to $4.5 million in his one-year deal; the contract also includes a $1.125 million signing bonus.

Bills are giving former Chiefs WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling a one-year deal worth up to $4.5 million, including a $1.125 million signing bonus, per source. https://t.co/ktwuCM7r5x

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 14, 2024

“Up to” seems to be the paramount qualifier here, as the Bills, according to Over The Cap, had just $2.26 million in salary cap space prior to the signing. Whether or not Buffalo has to make a corresponding roster move to fit Valdes-Scantling’s contract on the books—and the wideout onto the roster itself—remains to be seen.

Related: Where Josh Allen ranks among NFL QB contracts following Jared Goff's massive extension

Regardless of Valdes-Scantling’s base salary and the ultimate intricacies of his contract, he will not factor into the compensatory draft pick formula. Compensatory draft picks are awarded to teams that lose more compensatory free agents than they sign in a given offseason; the Bills are currently projected to receive two compensatory picks in the 2025 NFL Draft given the offseason departures of Davis and pass rusher Leonard Floyd. Free agents needed to be signed by April 29 in order to factor into the compensatory pick formula, per NFL.com.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling's contract with the #Bills includes $2.25M in incentives, per source:

Catches:
- 25 catches: $250K
- 40 catches: another $250K
- 55 catches: another $250K

Yards:
- 350 yards: $250K
- 550 yards: another $250K
- 750 yards: another $250K

Touchdowns:
- 3… https://t.co/uQYd4ZH90p

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) May 14, 2024

Valdes-Scantling figures to serve as a boundary field-stretcher for Josh Allen and the Bills should he ultimately make the roster. He’s caught 186 passes for 3,155 yards and 16 touchdowns throughout his six-year NFL career.