Steelers website: JuJu Smith-Schuster “unlikely” to accept offer to stay

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Regardless of no matter disclaimers and caveats that NFL groups might apply to articles written on web sites owned and operated by NFL groups, the actual fact stays that these web sites are owned and operated by NFL groups.

This essentially makes observations made by crew workers on team-owned web sites extra related on the subject of, for instance, gamers who will or gained’t be retained in free company.

Right here’s what Bob Labriola of Steelers.com needed to say about Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster‘s standing with the crew: “Smith-Schuster is about to turn into an unrestricted free agent on March 17, and regardless of his pronouncements on social media that he needs to proceed his profession with the Steelers, he’s unlikely to want to accept what the cap-strapped Steelers would be capable of pay him on a brand new contract.”

Whereas that hardly qualifies as earth shattering given the well-known cap points with which the Steelers are struggling, it’s related to see what somebody from throughout the crew is pondering. Regardless that Labriola isn’t making the selections, he has entry to those that do. (Workforce president Artwork Rooney II, for instance, hardly ever talks to any media members aside from Labriola or different Steelers.com workers.)

The Steelers even have a brand new hammer that can be utilized on the subject of negotiations with Smith-Schuster, different impending free brokers, or veterans who’ve present contracts with salaries that the crew wish to trim. Now that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has slashed his 2021 compensation by $5 million (that’s 26.3 p.c of the $19 million he was resulting from make), the Steelers can level to Roethlisberger in any negotiations with some other gamers for instance of the sort of sacrifice that must be made for the better good.

This meshes with one in all coach Mike Tomlin’s favourite sayings: “We can’t do this with hostages, man. We’d like volunteers.” And it really works. It received Roethlisberger to take an unconditional $5 million haircut, and it absolutely can be used on different gamers.

Will it work on Smith-Schuster? In all probability not, until different groups aren’t prepared to make a significant, multi-year supply for a receiver who is a wonderful No. 2 however not geared up to be a No. 1. However the backside line is that getting gamers to place “crew” above their particular person backside traces may be very, excellent for the crew’s backside line.