ESPN's John Clayton recently sat down with 93.7 the fan and did a 20-minute interview on the Steelers going into free agency. One of the topics was about who he feels will get paid the most in free agency on the Steelers. He says JuJu Smith-Schuster will get paid the most on the open market. That is not surprising. In fact, I think JuJu is going to get overpaid big time in the 2021 offseason.
John feels you have many teams in the NFL who need a wide-receiver. Alejandro Villanueva will probably take around $12 million and JuJu Smith-Schuster is around $15 million, but Clayton says you have to gauge how much less these guys may have to take due to the depleted market going into 2021. The tricky thing for these free agents to follow going into the offseason would be taking a lesser-term deal for fewer years on a market that is depleted. Which is another reason why many are saying JuJu Smith-Schuster could be looking for a shorter-term deal this offseason.
Clayton was asked a question why do teams still pay wide-receivers so much money when there are a ton available every year in the draft or free agency who can be brought in for less? Clayton says it is a good point to make because as good as it is to have a big-time wide receiver on your team they don't seem to make that big of a difference. It seems there is a little bit of a gap with having a star wide-receiver bringing your team to the Super Bowl although Stefon Diggs did help bring the Bills to the Conference Championship game.
There are very good points being made by John Clayton in regards to contracts for free agents this offseason. Some of these guys are going to take lesser-term deals because the market value is not real this season due to the lower cap. It is possible JuJu Smith-Schuster could take a lesser-term deal which could benefit the Steelers. Even Rapoport said JuJu could be looking for a one-year deal. Again I just think it would make sense to take a 3-4 year deal with guaranteed money in case something happens during the season. I believe Bud Dupree or JuJu Smith-Schuster will get overpaid in the 2021 offseason and teams will eventually pay for it down the road.