Back to the Pittsburgh Steelers Newsfeed

JuJu Smith-Schuster: ‘I Feel Like I Was The Best Receiver On The Board’ In Free Agency This Year

For obvious reasons, the 2021 season has produced the least robust wide receiver market in some time—and by robust, I’m referring to the compensation players are receiving, not the quality of players who are available.

Only five wide receivers who were street or unrestricted free agents signed deals that averaged $10 million per season or more, not including Allen Robinson and Chris Godwin, both of whom were franchise tagged. Including the tagged players, JuJu Smith-Schuster’s contract signed with the Steelers—a one-year contract worth $8 million—ranks eighth in average annual compensation.

The fifth-year veteran is among the many players at all positions who opted for one-year contracts with the notion that they will be hitting the open market again next year with a much more robust cap expenditure available to teams, which should yield better offers.