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Even JuJu Smith-Schuster Realizes He Can't Stay With Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers would love to keep their top wide receiver around next season, but even he knows it can't happen.

Noah Strackbein

PITTSBURGH -- If you don't already know, the Pittsburgh Steelers are set up for failure during the 2021 offseason due to a plethora of free agents, a $41.25 million cap hit from their quarterback and a pandemic-impacted salary cap. 

As the Steelers navigate their way through a winter/spring that will define next season, it's abundantly clear who their fans want them to make top priority. 

JuJu Smith-Schuster stole the hearts of Steelers fans the moment he stepped into a black and gold uniform. The former second-round pick settled into an offense that had stars like Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell and worked for four years to turn himself into the offense's biggest name. 

Now, he's here. The Steelers will watch 19 players walk into the offseason as unrestricted free agents, including Smith-Schuster. 

"I don't know what the future holds," Roethlisberger said about Smith-Schuster following the team's playoff loss. "He doesn't know. I'll always support him. I'll always be proud of him. I think he embodies what it is to be a Pittsburgh Steeler. He's tough. He shows grit. You saw some of the plays he made tonight. They were black and gold through and through. I hope I can speak for the fans when I would say that they don't want him going anywhere, we don't want him going anywhere. He's Steelers and he's fun. I'm just thankful for his efforts."

Like Big Ben, the fans are thankful as well. They've spent much of the second half of the 2020 season defending his TikTok dances, words on the Cleveland Browns and the constant target his social status has put on his back.

Unfortunately, they won't have much time left to cheer him on as a Steeler.

Not only do the Steelers find themselves with double-digit free agents, but they also carry an estimated -$25 million in cap space, according to Sportrac. This means, if they want to begin even thinking about Smith-Schuster - or any free agent - they need to consider cap casualties first. 

Smith-Schuster's estimated value this offseason is roughly $15 million. You can say he could look at a pay cut to stay in Pittsburgh, but at 24-years-old and likely one of the hottest names on the market, giving your current team a discount makes almost no sense. 

The NFL is a business. No one can be upset with players approaching the idea the same way. 

Smith-Schuster might have accepted this fate. The Steelers have conducted exit interviews throughout the last week, and the topic of the receiver's future was probably mentioned when he spoke to head coach Mike Tomlin for the last time. 

We don't know what was said, but we know Smith-Schuster is beginning to think about other teams. 

Smith-Schuster jumped on Fortnite over the weekend and started talking with fans about his future. He changed the jersey of his avatar to teams such as the Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints, Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears. 

Not the most symbolic message, but not the least either. And as painful as it might be to the proclaimed "JuJubeez," the picture is getting clearer that Smith-Schuster won't be a Steeler in 2021.  

Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.

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Noah Strackbein
NOAH STRACKBEIN

Noah is the Publisher for All Steelers, Inside the Panthers (InsideThePanthers.com) and Inside the Penguins (InsidethePenguins.com), and is the host of All Steelers Talk (YouTube.com/AllSteelersTalk). A Scranton native, Noah made his way to the Pittsburgh sports scene in 2017. Now, he's pretty much full-yinzer.

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