The Steelers clearly made the right move by bringing back JuJu Smith-Schuster. They got a really good player at a $2.4 million cap hit for this coming season.
That’s backup-lineman money. That’s Chris Wormley money. It’s Joe Hague money. No team in its right mind would kick that gift horse in the mouth, even if it had to kick some cash down the road.
So I don’t question the Steelers here.
I question JuJu.
If the idea was to set himself up for a huge payday next offseason, why would he return to a team that helped kill his value this offseason by turning him into a singles hitter?
Singles hitters don’t get paid. Kenny Golladay does.
What’s more, JuJu passed up a chance to play with Patrick Mahomes (for more money) and Andy Reid in the most prolific passing offense in the sport, opting for 39-year-old Ben Roethlisberger and a first-time coordinator.
No offense to Ben, who I still believe has some good football in him, but if I’m a young receiver chasing my first monster contract, I’ll use Mahomes and the Chiefs offense to get it, thank you. I’d think even Ben would agree with that.
I keep hearing, “But JuJu would have been the Number 3 option in Kansas City. He wouldn’t be the Number 1 guy.”
OK, so what is he here?
He’s not the most targeted guy (that’s Diontae Johnson by a fair margin). He’s not the most talented guy (that’s Chase Claypool). He’s not the deep threat. They don’t even use him as an intermediate threat.
Fact is, JuJu’s coming off a year in which he posted an embarrassing 8.6 yards per catch (125th in the NFL). He led the team in catches, yes, but it seemed like half of them were 5-yard darts on which he then played rugby for nine feet. At the ripe old age of 23 (now 24), he became the classic possession receiver.
Yes, JuJu finished ninth in the league in catches (97) and tied for 10th in touchdown catches (nine), but as we all saw, rather graphically, that got him nothing but a bunch of slammed doors on the open market.
Golladay’s last full season saw him catch just 65 passes, but they were worth 1,190 yards, 11 touchdowns and an 18.3-yard average. That’s why he went into the same pandemic-depressed market as JuJu and came out with $40 million guaranteed on a $72 million deal.
If JuJu is the Steelers’ clear-cut No. 1 guy, I have a question: How come he didn’t have a single 100-yard game during the regular season?
To the contrary, he had nine games that went like this:
— three catches, 15 yards (at Cincinnati)
— eight catches, 37 yards (Baltimore)
— seven catches, 28 yards (Washington)
— two catches, six yards (Cleveland)
— four catches, 28 yards (Philadelphia)
— four catches, 43 yards (Houston)
— seven catches, 48 yards (Denver)
— four catches 19 yards (at Jacksonville, hurt late)
— six catches, 55 yards (at Buffalo)
Please read that list again, then tell me how JuJu’s best career move was coming back here. I’m guessing he would have topped some of those yardage totals on one catch in Kansas City.
The only caveat here is if new coordinator Matt Canada decides to take full advantage of JuJu’s skills by expanding his route tree. But at whose expense?
Johnson is entering year three, Claypool year two. Those are normally leap years for talented young players. Their production should expand, assuming Johnson can hold on to the football and Claypool can stay out of bar fights. Ben’s also on the record saying James Washington should play more.
If anything, one could imagine JuJu’s numbers shrinking.
Consider this:
— The Steelers won’t be nearly as pass-happy. They are under ownership mandate to install a professional running game.
— There is no way Claypool will be parked as often as he was. The kid’s a beast who needs to be unleashed. He played 52% or fewer snaps in a quarter of the games. That’s just not happening again.
— If the Steelers draft a do-it-all back such as Travis Etienne or Najee Harris, be sure more targets will go there. And don’t forget that tight end Eric Ebron had 91 targets in 15 games.
The Chiefs have long been looking for a No. 2 receiver. JuJu would have killed it there — he works well off a star colleague, you’ll recall — and can you imagine what he would have done if Tyreek Hill or Travis Kelce missed any time?
This was his chance to play with the best quarterback on the planet, on the only team in the league that averaged over 300 yards passing last season.
It’s admirable, in a way, that JuJu returned for less money. He just better hope the Steelers don’t ask him to beat the ball into the ground for a bunch of infield singles again.
If they do, he’s liable to get a bunch of doors shut in his face again.
