The Kansas City Chiefs are in jeopardy of losing one of their best receivers during the 2022 season, which may not be a good thing. Honestly, you could say JuJu Smith-Schuster was their best receiver when you look at season stats.
The Chiefs are having some money issues right now, nothing terrible considering what other teams are going through, but they will have to let some players walk in free agency, and maybe cut or restructure some other ones.
Pro Football Focus seems to think that Smith-Schuster is one of the guys that the Chiefs will let walk in free agency, as they have him projected to sign with the Carolina Panthers.
Smith-Schuster showed up on the biggest stage of his career with seven receptions for 53 yards in the Super Bowl, as well as drew the defensive holding call on Philadelphia Eagles cornerback James Bradberry that effectively sealed the victory. Over the course of the season, Smith-Schuster hit key statistical benchmarks that earned him a ton of extra money, in particular by eclipsing 65 receptions (78) and 900 receiving yards (933).
Smith-Schuster’s one-year flier with the Chiefs carried a base value of just $3.76 million, but he earned an additional $6.5 million in incentives. He earned $2 million of that from the AFC championship game and the Super Bowl, a potential benefit that only the Kansas City Chiefs provide a great shot at earning on an annual basis.
The Chiefs relied on Smith-Schuster a ton this last year, which is why he had the most receiving yards of anyone besides Travis Kelce.
Heck, the last two drives for the Chiefs in the Super Bowl featured a heavy workload of Smith-Schuster.
But, the Chiefs seem to believe that Kadarius Toney can be the guy next year, and I think he could as well.
This leads me to believe though, that they may go after some receivers in the draft as Toney and Skyy Moore are the two main receivers right now, along with Marquez Valdez-Scantling.
I would hate to see Smith-Schuster leave, but it’s something that likely has to happen.
