
Steelers soon-to-be free agent JuJu Smith-Schuster has said for months now, he wants to stay in Pittsburgh and play with Ben Roethlisberger, but after the quarterback signed a discount deal that freed up $15 million in cap space for Pittsburgh, the wide receiver replied on social media “now let’s talk.”
This could indicate the Steelers haven’t even reached out to JuJu with an extension and while it may have been the reality all along, Smith-Schuster is starting to indicate he knows black and gold is not in his future.
Smith-Schuster has built a brand using social media and has become one of the most popular and recognizable players in the league for it, but it rubs some the wrong way.
On Tuesday night while playing the video game “Fortnite” on the streaming service Twitch, JuJu called his stream “March 17th, FREE MAN.” March 17 is the start of free agency in the NFL.
While he could just be trolling fans, the character that JuJu was playing with was wearing a Miami Dolphins uniform. That that mean he’s heading down south to play with Tua?
With the Steelers just under the cap by $6 million, Smith-Schuster would have to take a hometown discount to stay in Pittsburgh.
Contract and sports salary website Spotrac has Smith-Shuster’s value over the next five seasons at $80.7 million with an average salary of $16.1 million a season, something the Steelers cannot afford.