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THE New England Patriots have released Juju Smith-Schuster, but it appears he might not have ever been wanted.
The Patriots signed Juju following a solid season with the Chiefs in 2022, but things never ended up working out in their partnership.
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After a poor 2023 season in which Juju only managed 260 yards and one touchdown, the Patriots have released him from their roster.
New Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo shared with the media that he wanted to give younger players an opportunity for larger roles on the team, giving reasoning for the Juju cut.
“It was a decision between Eliot [Wolf] and myself,” Mayo said.
“Really to give the younger guys an opportunity to go out there and get more reps and show what they can do.”
Mayo also added that lingering injuries played into the decision to cut Juju.
“That’s part of it,” he said.
“At the same time, we just wanted him to get healthy. He’s still got some good ball left in him.
“I wish him nothing but the best.”
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While Mayo echoed a statement with many rational reasons for the cut of Juju, some in the building have shared that he might not have been wanted in the first place.
The Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan reported that the Patriots front office had to convince Bill Belichick to sign Juju over resigning leading receiver Jakobi Meyers.
“In the lead-up to free agency, the Pats had been split internally on whether to retain Meyers, their leading receiver for three straight seasons,” Callahan wrote.
“Sources believe front-office decision-makers sold Belichick on Smith-Schuster’s yards after catch ability over what they had in Meyers.
“That, again, served as a surprise to outsiders, considering the Patriots weren’t connected to Smith-Schuster in 2022 when he had also been a free agent.
“‘Bill was never a JuJu guy,’ one source said.”
That move came back to bite the Patriots, as Meyers outperformed Juju in every category in 2023.
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He had nearly 600 more yards that Juju and scored 10 total touchdowns to Juju’s one.
Meyers also had better availability, playing in 16 games compared to Juju’s 11.
Juju isn’t far away from one of the best seasons of his career. He had 933 yards and three touchdowns for the Chiefs in 2022.
If he can recapture that form for his age-28 season, Juju could be a solid option for a team looking for more weapons.
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