Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is apparently in Dallas, TX on Wednesday shooting a commercial for 7-Eleven and taking part in a “Fuel Your Fandom Influencer Training Camp’ promotion for the convenience store chain, as well. He apparently talked some to the media as part of that event and was asked about his pending free agency as part of that.
According to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News, Smith-Schuster said Wednesday that he’s “most likely” headed for free agency this offseason.
It’s hard to comment on that little blurb that Gehlken passed along until he publishes more but I think we can pretty much take it at face value. Most likely does not mean he will, but with that said, the remaining four years on Smith-Schuster’s contract that he signed last offseason are reportedly scheduled to void five days after the Super Bowl is played. If those years do void, Smith-Schuster will be scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on March 16, the start of the 2022 NFL league year.
The Steelers could obviously re-sign Smith-Schuster before he becomes a free agent. Even so, they did allow him to test free agency last offseason. He ultimately re-signed with the Steelers for $8 million.
Smith-Schuster has once again made it clear several weeks ago that he would like to stay in Pittsburgh if at all possible as part of a long-term deal. After having most of his 2021 season wiped out by a shoulder injury, he might be hard-pressed to find a team willing to give him more a new money average greater than $10 million. We shall see.
Smith-Schuster is participating in the 7-Eleven event with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. In fact, he seemingly hinted Wednesday that he wouldn’t mind being one of Prescott’s wide receivers in 2022.
“He’s a great quarterback,” Smith-Schuster reportedly said of Prescott, according to Gehlken. “Catching balls from him in a facility like this, I wouldn’t mind it.”
Should Gehlken post more of what Smith-Schuster said on Wednesday, I will update this post to provide more context. In the meantime, it sure sounds like Smith-Schuster is expecting to hit free agency again this coming offseason.
