Marquez Valdes-Scantling has made a strong case for the New Orleans Saints to bring him back after being a midseason pickup.
The Saints entered this season with a lack of depth at wide receiver. Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed led the room, which is okay, but there wasn’t much proven talent behind them.
Ideally, you’d like to have three receivers you trust. Maybe New Orleans thought Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill’s receiving ability could offset that. It was a miscalculation that became more evident when both Olave and Shaheed went out with injury.
It left the Saints scrambling for weapons and landed on Valdes-Scantling. He brought the field-stretching ability the offense lacked in the absence of Shaheed. It’s what the former Green Bay Packer and Kansas City Chief is known for.
The last half of the year was all about auditioning for the next regime. Valdes-Scantling, on a one-year contract, made the most of his opportunity. Isolating his time in a Saints uniform, his 22.6 receiving yards per catch and 48.1 yards per game were the highest of his career.
The redundancy in skillset may make the Saints feel there’s no need for Valdes-Scantling to return, but they don’t have that luxury from a depth standpoint. His presence would at least give them the benefit of having three weapons you can feel confident in at wide receiver.
New Orleans can’t come into next year with Olave, Shaheed and bunch of question marks. If it isn’t Valdes-Scantling, the Saints should invest in another wide receiver in free agency and another in the draft.
