Cowboys & JuJu Smith-Schuster Signing? Or is Dallas Too Late?

Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is about to get paid - something that maybe the Cowboys should’ve done a year ago - and maybe should try again.

FRISCO - A year ago, free agent wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster made a visit to The Star - not as a Dallas Cowboys recruit but rather as part of a sponsorship deal.

He mentioned at the time how impressed he was with The Star and he mentioned Dak Prescott, too, who was also present for the promotional 7-11 thing.

Said JuJu: “He’s a great quarterback. Catching balls from him in a facility like this, I wouldn’t mind it. … The Steelers are still working on trying to get out of the wooden locker rooms.”

In retrospect, maybe the Cowboys should’ve listened.

Presently, JuJu is involved in a "beef'' with A.J. Brown of the bitter Eagles, who just lost the Super Bowl to Smith-Schuster's Chiefs. (Well, Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs.) We don't care much about that, and we never cared much for JuJu's goofy Tic-Tok obsession, either.

AJ Brown claps back at JuJu. 👀 https://t.co/NYZFgqW3xc pic.twitter.com/sMYe34tYBo

— theScore (@theScore) February 14, 2023

But a rebounding player on a cheap contract? That, we go for.

After signing a one-year deal with the Chiefs - paying him just $3.7 million - JuJu is now about to be a free agent again … and this time he’s coming off a season of rejuvenation in which he teamed with QB Patrick Mahomes to produce in a big way.

What if the 2022 Cowboys had a second receiver who caught 78 passes for 933 yards and three touchdowns … all for just $3.7 million?

Dallas never looked seriously at this idea last spring, believing that a rehabbed Michael Gallup would work just fine as CeeDee Lamb’s running mate.

Then came the drafting of Jalen Tolbert and the signing of James Washington, and Smith-Schuster single-handedly did more for KC than Gallup, Tolbert and Washington did combined in Dallas.

Smith-Schuster is about to have a host of suitors, and it has been speculated that one team that could show some interest is the Cowboys.

But here's where the "speculation'' goes a bit awry: Spotrac projects Smith-Schuster's next contract to be worth $15 million APY. Could the Cowboys shuffle around cap room to make such a thing happen? Certainly.

But $15 million is pricy for a player like JuJu, who we could characterize as a "talented journeyman.'' There are players on tiers higher than him who only make a bit more (Houston's Brandin Cooks at $18 mil?) and there are players at the very top of the wideout food chain who are much more expensive but also much more productive (Arizona's DeAndre Hopkins at $27 mil?) and as those two would have to be acquired via trade, there is also the ever-present (in the mind of owner Jerry Jones) Odell Beckham Jr. price tag unknown.

JuJu Smith-Schuster signing with the Dallas Cowboys in the spring? A fine idea, really - if we're talking about "the spring of 2022.''

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Dallas Cowboys?

America's Team ALERT! Get your Dallas Cowboys game TICKETS from SI Tickets ... here!

Follow FishSports on Twitter

Follow Cowboys / Fish on Facebook

Subscribe to the Cowboys Fish Report on YouTube for constant daily Cowboys live-stream podcasts and reports!