JuJu Smith Schuster returning to Steelers helps but signals Big Ben’s future
JuJu Smith-Schuster turned down more money to return to the Steelers in free agency but the details also signal the future of Big Ben and Pittsburgh.
Though it initially looked as if wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster would be signing with another team in NFL free agency, that turned out not to be the case. The young wideout signed a one-year deal to return to the Pittsburgh Steelers for the 2020 season.
Even more interesting in the case of Smith-Schuster, however, is the circumstances leading to his return to Pittsburgh. As reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the USC product turned down offers from the Ravens and Eagles, among others, that included more money. On a very surface level, this makes sense for a player who has rooted himself in the Steel City.
However, there’s more to it than just that. Smith-Schuster will undoubtedly help the Steelers in the 2021 season as they hope to make a push for and in the playoffs moving forward. But signing a 24-year-old wide receiver to an effective one-year contract (the particulars of the deal are heavy on a signing bonus with voidable years after this season to fit him under the cap) should raise some flags.
And those flags, not that it’s surprising, should be raised in regards to the future of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the future of the Steelers after the 2021 season.
After the 2021 season, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Ben Roethlisberger are likely gone from the Steelers.
Considering that Pittsburgh asked Roethlisberger to take a pay cut if he was going to stay for this year, one could easily assume that he was going to be gone sooner rather than later. But the JuJu Smith-Schuster deal only further confirms that.
When you’re looking at a player like the wide receiver that has produced at a high level but is only 24 years old signing such a modest contract for only one year, there is a reason that happens. Yes, part of it might be because he’s coming off of two season with modest production and another may be the depressed free-agent market with the reduced salary cap.
Another part of it, however, would reasonably be that the Steelers aren’t looking past the 2021 season in terms of having a loaded wide receiver corps. Instead, they are trying to make one last push this year before Big Ben either hangs up his pads or changes residency.
The Steelers are in an objectively bad situation with the salary cap, hence why they had to structure Smith-Schuster’s deal in the manner they did just to bring him back. This isn’t a team that can afford luxury signings unless they are going all-in for one last time. That’s what this move almost has to represent.
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Make no mistake, retaining Smith-Schuster for the 2021 campaign will be hugely important for the Steelers and any playoff chances they may have. But Pittsburgh is also clearly planning for an extensive transition period after this season, one that will likely see Smith-Schuster and Roethlisberger not suiting up in Pittsburgh.