New England picked up the veteran wideout on Wednesday.
The New England Patriots made a splash on Wednesday, signing free agent wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster to a three-year contract. The deal is a big one, and one that received a positive response.
Look no further than the folks over at Pro Football Focus, who graded the move an A:
JUJU SMITH-SCHUSTER SIGNS WITH NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
2022 PFF Grade: 70.1 (43rd/113 WR) 2022 PFF WAR: 0.22 (35th WR)
Fit/need grade: A
Value grade: A-
Contract: Three years, $33 million ($11 million per year)
PFF projected contract: Three years, $36 million ($12 million per year), $24.5 million guaranteed
Putting together his best season since 2018 with the Pittsburgh Steelers, JuJu Smith-Schuster was able to turn a season with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs into a multi-year deal with the Patriots.
Smith-Schuster finally gets the multi-year deal he’s been seeking, and it’s interestingly for the exact same overall value as the departing Jakobi Meyers. When healthy, Smith-Schuster has had higher highs, and he played nearly 60% of snaps out wide in 2022, which could have factored into this decision given that Meyers has historically been more confined to the slot.
Information about Smith-Schuster’s contract value is still limited at this point in time, but it appears that the three-year, $33 million contract is the maximum value including incentives. Accordingly, the pact might actually be more team-friendly — something that needs to be factored into the grading discussion.
Then again, it already gets an A from PFF anyway. How would you grade the signing, though?
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