Former New England Patriots wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is reportedly signing a one-year deal to return to the Kansas City Chiefs, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Smith-Schuster was released by the Patriots on August 9, one year into his three-year deal with the team. There was hope he’d be an improvement for the Patriots over Jakobi Meyers, who ultimately signed with the Las Vegas Raiders.
But it ended up being a great miscalculation by former Patriots coach and de facto general manager Bill Belichick.
Smith-Schuster struggled to produce on the field, while Meyers served as an effective receiver for the Raiders. He had one of the worst seasons statistically of his career with only 29 catches for 260 yards and one touchdown in 11 games.
Chiefs signing WR JuJu Smith-Schuster. (via @TomPelissero) pic.twitter.com/fVkZHd5lNK
— NFL (@NFL) August 26, 2024
Smith-Schuster was part of the Chiefs’ 2022 Super Bowl team. So there’s clearly hope that he can produce far better numbers in their offensive system than he did in New England.
He is still only 27 years old, but injuries have robbed him of his explosiveness on the field. However, if anyone can get anything out of him, it would be the powerful offensive pairing of coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes.