The New England Patriots released Juju Smith-Schuster, but it appears he was never sought after.
The Patriots signed Juju after a solid season with the Chiefs in 2022, but things never worked out in the partnership.
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After a poor 2023 season in which Juju managed just 260 yards and one touchdown, the Patriots released him from their roster.
New Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo shared with the media that he wanted to give younger players an opportunity for bigger roles on the team, justifying cutting Juju.
“It was a decision between Eliot [Wolf] and me,” Mayo said.
“Really to give the young guys an opportunity to go out there and get more reps and show what they can do.”
Mayo also added that lingering injuries influenced the decision to cut Juju.
“That’s part of it,” he said.
“At the same time, we just wanted him to stay healthy. He still has a good ball left.
“I wish him nothing but the best.”
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Although Mayo echoed a statement with many rational reasons for cutting Juju, some in the building shared that he may not have been wanted in the first place.
Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald reported that the Patriots front office had to convince Bill Belichick to hire Juju over firing star receiver Jakobi Meyers.
“In the run-up to free agency, the Pats were divided internally over whether to keep Meyers, their leading receiver for three consecutive seasons,” Callahan wrote.
“Sources believe front-office decision makers sold Belichick in the Smith-Schuster yards after catching capacity over what they had in Meyers.
“This, once again, came as a surprise to outsiders considering the Patriots were not linked to Smith-Schuster in 2022 when he was also a free agent.
“‘Bill was never a JuJu guy,’ says one source.”
This change has hit the Patriots again, as Meyers has outperformed Juju in every category in 2023.
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He had almost 600 more yards than Juju and scored 10 total touchdowns to Juju’s.
Meyers also had better availability, playing 16 games compared to Juju’s 11.
Juju is not far from one of the best seasons of his career. He had 933 yards and three touchdowns for the Chiefs in 2022.
If he can regain form for his age-28 season, Juju could be a solid option for a team looking for more weapons.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
