The Kansas City Chiefs are strengthening their players with experienced players in a position where they apparently do not need them – at least not in the long term.
Nevertheless, according to several reports, former Pro Bowl wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is returning to the two-time defending champions – he played for the Super Bowl 57 winners in the 2022 season. This year, he caught 78 balls for 933 yards and three touchdowns in 16 games.
Smith-Schuster, 27, was released earlier this month by the New England Patriots, for whom he played in 2023 and caught 29 passes for 260 yards and one touchdown in seven games.
“We just want him to get healthy,” said Jerod Mayo, the Pats’ new head coach, at the time of Smith-Schuster’s departure, explaining the team’s motivations and its weak 2023 season.
“He still has some good skills in the game.”
He signed a three-year, $25 million deal with the Patriots in 2023. New England already owes him $7 million for 2024. If he stays this year, Smith-Schuster would receive the veteran minimum ($1.2 million) from KC, and the Patriots would shell out the rest of his salary.
He spent his first five seasons, including his 2018 Pro Bowl season – alongside All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown – with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who drafted Smith-Schuster in the second round out of USC in 2017. Since then, however, he has never come close to his career highs from 2018 (111 catches, 1,426 yards).
So why do the Chiefs need an aging, potentially underperforming player who is coming off an injury-shortened season?
▶ One of their most notable offseason additions, receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, suffered a sternoclavicular injury on August 10 that may cost him another month.
▶ Rashee Rice, the Chiefs’ WR1 as a rookie (79 catches for 938 yards and a team-best 7 TD receptions), will likely face NFL discipline at some point after he was involved in a six-car crash in Dallas in which police say he was driving a Lamborghini at nearly 120 mph. Rice faces one count of aggravated assault, one count of collision causing serious bodily injury and six counts of collision causing personal injury. However, the league typically does not impose suspensions until the legal process is complete.
▶ Kansas City selected speedy receiver Xavier Worthy, who set a record of 4.21 seconds for the 40-yard dash at this year’s scouting combine, in the first round of the draft. But the Chiefs have several other players competing for a roster spot at a position where most clubs are five or maybe six players deep. Skyy Moore, Kadarius Toney — both of whom have generally disappointed during their tenure with the team — Justin Watson, Justyn Ross and Super Bowl 58 hero Mecole Hardman all appear to be in the running for the remaining spots, though one could open up if Brown is placed on the injured list or Rice is penalized.
The Chiefs will open their title defense at Arrowhead Stadium against the Baltimore Ravens, whom they defeated in the 2023 AFC Championship Game, in the league’s 2024 regular season opener on Sept. 5.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chiefs bring back WR JuJu Smith-Schuster – but why?
