Ex-Vikings WR Will Reportedly Return to the Champs
Dustin Baker
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He didn’t play in the postseason, but he’ll receive a Super Bowl ring.
That’s former Minnesota Vikings wideout Ihmir Smith-Marsette, and the Iowa alumnus will reportedly return to the Kansas City Chiefs next season. Kansas City knocked off the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35, in Super Bowl LVII.
Ex-Vikings WR Will Reportedly Return to the Champs
The Chiefs were fueled by a defensive touchdown, second-half supremacy, and a for-the-ages performance from Patrick Mahomes that he produced on a bad ankle. Kansas City was the third likeliest team to win the Super Bowl per sportsbooks when the 2022 regular season began, so Mahomes and Co. didn’t disappoint.
And when Andy Reid’s team begins its title defense in seven months, the aforementioned Smith-Marsette could be a part of the active roster. The Pioneer Press Chris Tomasson tweeted Monday, “Source said WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette, who gets a Super Bowl ring as a member of Chiefs practice squad and got into two Kansas City games in 2022, has been offered a futures contract by Chiefs and he most likely will sign it. Smith-Marsette played for the Vikings as a rookie in 2021.”
The Vikings released Smith-Marsette on the same day in August that Jalen Reagor joined the club via trade. The news was stunning for Vikings fans, as Smith-Marsette was theorized as the team’s WR4 during the summer.
But that forecast was fan-driven, as Smith-Marsette struggled mightily in his next adventure with the Chicago Bears. His tenure in Chicago lasted about seven weeks. The Bears said sayonara to the 23-year-old in October after a series of bloopers, as Smith-Marsette encountered drops, penalties, fumbles, and generalized futility with the Bears, so the relationship was short-lived.
Minnesota selected Smith-Marsette in the 5th Round of the 2021 NFL Draft, but like much of that draft class, he was chopped by Minnesota’s new leadership regime at the end of the summer. Sixty-three percent of the Vikings 2021 draft class now plays elsewhere.
In 2021 as a rookie, Smith-Marsette caught 5 passes for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns. He seemed rather promising in Minnesota but should serve as a cautionary tale that sometimes fans just get it wrong.
In Smith-Marsette’s defense, though, the man who replaced him, Jalen Reagor, didn’t do much for the Vikings as a wide receiver in 2022. The former Philadelphia Eagle tabulated 8 catches for 104 yards and a touchdown. Of all 31 NFLers who returned 15+ punts in 2022, Reagor’s 6.2 yards per return ranked 31st in the league.
Smith-Marsette and the Chiefs hope to become the first team in about two decades to win back-to-back Super Bowls in 2023. No team has done so since the New England Patriots in 2003 and 2004.
The Chiefs used Smith-Marsette on 13 total plays in 2022.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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