Things didn’t go according to plan for the Steelers or JuJu Smith-Schuster in 2019. After parting ways with Antonio Brown, the wide receiver seemed poised for a monster season and a brand new contract to reflect his expected status as one of the league’s premier wide receivers. That didn’t happen and Steelers owner Art Rooney II says he isn’t in any rush to talk extension. 
“Well again, it was a tough season to evaluate with the different quarterbacks and some of JuJu’s injuries so it’s a tough season to evaluate from a lot of different standpoints,” Rooney said (via Jacob Klinger of PennLive.com). “Obviously we still think highly of JuJu and still think he’s going to be an outstanding player in the league moving forward and we will address the contract situation when it’s appropriate.”
In 2019, Smith-Schuster caught just 42 passes for 552 yards and three touchdowns in 12 games. Smith-Schuster’s rookie deal is set to expire after the 2020 season and he might have to wait until then to discuss a new deal with the Steelers.
Of course, the loss of Ben Roethlisberger early in the season held back Smith-Schuster and the Steelers offense on the whole. That is to say, the drop-off in his production is not entirely his fault. Still, the Steelers seem open to a wait-and-see approach with the 23-year-old (24 in November).
When the Steelers have Big Ben back in action next season, they’ll hope to see Smith-Schuster return to form. In 2018, the former second-round pick broke out with 111 catches for 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns en route to his first Pro Bowl appearance.
You know it’s a lot easier with a Hall of Famer across from you. Some dudes can’t flourish as the Guy. Peerless Price comes to mind. But who knows maybe he’ll be Reggie Wayne.
Kind of hard to put up big numbers when you are injured a good portion of the season and the other portion you have a guy named duck trying to throw you passes.
Boo boo smith schuster
Original
Jets should two 3rd rounders first juju
English please.
Haha, I was thinking the same thing
I’d be talking extension with him now. Coming off of this year, you might be able to lock him up at a decent price.
Plus Dionte Johnson is looking like an emerging #1, so with a real QB next year, JuJu might go back to having a monster year, making him unaffordable after 2020.
The Steelers cap situation is a total mess, so they need to lock core guys up as cheaply as possible to be able to extend T.J. Watt and Minkah in the next couple of years.
Signing Watt should be the Steelers first priority over JuJu. Even though there’s an extra year in his contract the Steelers are always strapped down with their cap space.
Typical Rooney strategy…undermine a player publicly when you rather not pay his true value. Then act like the victim when he decides to hold out before training camp.