With the Pittsburgh Steelers hiring Arthur Smith to be their offensive coordinator, there are a handful of free agents with significant ties to him from his previous jobs around the league who could have made logical sense to land in Pittsburgh. One of the leading candidates for that was TE Jonnu Smith. That door appears to have closed as Adam Schefter reported on X that Smith has agreed to terms with the Miami Dolphins on a two-year deal worth up to $10 million.
The two Smiths spent time together with both the Tennessee Titans and the Atlanta Falcons. The Steelers aren’t really in need of a tight end at the moment with Pat Freiermuth, Connor Heyward, and Darnell Washington in the mix, but he has been one of Arthur Smith’s favorites for a long time so there were some easy dots to connect there.
Jonnu Smith was a third-round pick out of Florida International University in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Titans, and he enjoyed the best years of his career in the four seasons he spent with Arthur Smith in Tennessee.
That might bode well for Freiermuth, who is entering the final year of his rookie contract with the possibility of signing an extension sometime this offseason. Of Smith’s 21 total career touchdowns, 17 came in four years with Smith in Tennessee. Three more came last season when Arthur Smith was the head coach in Atlanta and a rejuvenated Jonnu Smith caught 50 passes for 582 yards and a trio of scores.
The Steelers got very little out of the tight end position last season, and will be looking to turn that trend around. Check out our Jeremy Pike’s study into Smith’s tendencies with tight end usage here.
