The Pittsburgh Steelers now have wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster back in the fold for the 2021 season via an $8 million contract. While that deal was initially framed as a one-year deal, it really is technically a five-year deal that includes four voidable years, just like I expected would be the case.
Smith-Schuster gets $1 million as a base salary in 2021 and a $7 million signing bonus. Assuming this is a five-year deal that includes four voidable years, Smith-Schuster’s cap charge in 2021 will be $2.4 million.
According to Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle, Smith-Schuster’s four additional years, 2022-2025, all void automatically if he is on the Steelers roster on the fifth day after the 2021 Super Bowl. That lines up with when the voidable years on the contract quarterback Ben Roethlisberger now has voids as well.
What does this all mean? The Steelers are poised to have a dead money charge of $5.6 million in 2022 on Smith-Schuster. They also get Smith-Schuster back in 2021 for just $8 million and a very low salary cap charge to boot.
