When people say “the preseason means nothing,” they don’t really mean that. What they’re trying to say is that a 3-0 preseason record does not mean a team will be a juggernaut, or that a 160-yard receiving performance does not guarantee someone a roster spot.
Because the preseason undoubtedly does mean quite a bit for more than a few career decisions. Like, for example, all of us watching the absence of Marquez Valdes-Scantling for much of this summer. Whether he was not practicing, or simply not getting
open, preseason highlights and discussions contained a plethora of Seattle Seahawks names, but MVS was not among them. To many, that signified that Valdes-Scantling’s time in Seattle may be in jeopardy.
It appears that Valdes-Scantling himself had other inclinations.
“It definitely wasn’t news I was expecting,” he said to The Athletic’s Matt Barrows. “Like I said, I was brought over with that OC to continue what we did the year before. So when the news happened, it was a shock to me.”
Of course, with all of his time in Seattle he’ll be providing his insights on the Seahawks defense to the San Francisco 49ers.
“Of course I’ll be able to say, ‘Hey, this is the type of thing that gives them trouble. Or this is the type of coverage they like to play. This is the style of football these corners like to play,’” he said. “It’s not any knowledge that anyone else doesn’t have if they just turn the tape on. Everybody does the same thing on film that they do the next game. It won’t be much that I can say that hasn’t been said already.
“But I’ll obviously be able to give more insight to the receivers about how certain guys play certain leverages and stuff like that.”
First, “that OC” (referring to Klint Kubiak) is hilarious. Chances of the 49ers game having a bit of extra emotion? Setting aside for a moment the fact that he’s still on the practice squad.
Besides that, the sentiment is made more intriguing by the reminder that MVS is a 9-year NFL veteran. I truly believe most outside players would find Mike Macdonald a bit surprising. In fact, a few already have.
This is not the first time coach Macdonald has bailed on a veteran in favor of other or younger players he believes will perform as well if not better. He did it three times during the regular season in 2024, as Tyrel Dodson, Jerome Baker, and Rayshawn Jenkins all lost their starting jobs, and the two linebackers were both let go outright. This summer, Olu Oluwatimi joins Valdes-Scantling (although Olu is at least still on the team), and we’ll see what happens with Kenneth Walker’s potential timeshare with Zach Charbonnet.
No free rides with these Seahawks.
