The Pittsburgh Steelers saga with JuJu Smith-Schuster took a turn yesterday on social media. He voted on a Sports Illustrated poll by Kaitlin O'Toole asking if JuJu will stay in Pittsburgh. JuJu voted 'that's a negative.' It's not surprising JuJu is finally admitting he is going to walk in the offseason. I think he knew all along there was a long shot to stay because of money, but there still are 6 days left for the Steelers to get a deal done with him.
Patt McAfee recently dove into the topic of JuJu Smith-Schuster on his podcast yesterday. McAfee says it's kind of fucked up if JuJu screenshot his vote and sent it out which appears to be what happened, but McAfee questioned 'are talks not going to continue happening behind the scenes even if he still voted 'that's a negative?' He also asked known Steeler fan Tone Digz if it is heartbreaking to know JuJu Smith-Schuster could walk in free agency?
Digz says it is not heartbreaking and as a Steeler fan we all knew JuJu was going to walk. This is true. Once the season ended common sense told you JuJu would want to get paid in the offseason and he was just playing the PR game with Steeler fans to have a clean break once he signs with another team in the offseason. What was unknown was the Steelers were not talking with JuJu until a report yesterday by Rapoport broke saying the Steelers would like to keep him and they're trying to make it happen. The problem is the Steelers have a cap issue going into the offseason. That tells me they have at least started to communicate with JuJu's side, but it will be hard to get a deal done.
It was interesting to hear the rest of the podcast because Tone Digz was taking some shots at JuJu Smith-Schuster. He seems very fed up with the antics of JuJu especially playing as a Dolphin on his Fortnite account recently. Digz went all-in on JuJu Smith-Schuster. He said, "JuJu doesn't care about the Steelworkers, he doesn't care about the blue-collar people of Pittsburgh." The crew was shocked to hear this coming from Digz. McAfee did ask hasn't JuJu done a lot for the Pittsburgh community? Digz did agree he has done a lot.
There are going to be a lot of hurt Yinzers if JuJu Smith-Schuster walks in the offseason, but it is a business at the end of the day. The Steelers need to do what is best for their organization and JuJu needs to be paid what he thinks he is worth, but the extra social media antics need to stop if he wants to have a clean break with Steeler fans. Who knows maybe the Steelers might keep him (highly doubtful), but there is a chance!
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