Projecting a Juju Smith-Schuster extension for KC Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs signed wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster to a one-year “prove it” deal this offseason. Well, he is proving it.

It was not long ago that the Kansas City Chiefs were among the top-spending teams at the wide receiver position. The Chiefs were among the top ten spenders on wide receivers from 2018 to 2021. It made sense, especially getting quarterback Patrick Mahomes the receiving weapons he needed. Plus, keeping wide receiver Tyreek Hill was not cheap. But after Chiefs general manager Brett Veach traded away Hill, the Chiefs’ positional spending changed. Even after drafting and signing multiple new wide receivers, the Chiefs rank 19th in wide receiver spending. One of those low-spending moves they made was signing wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster.

Smith-Schuster was coming off a couple of down years with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Between injuries and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s declining play, Smith-Schuster’s on-field production fell off a cliff. Nonetheless, he was a 25-year-old free agent with 323 receptions and 3,855 receiving yards in his career. The Chiefs pursued Smith-Schuster in 2021, but he returned to Pittsburgh on a one-year deal. Chiefs general manager Brett Veach did not let him slip away again but did not compromise the Chiefs’ cap space.

Smith-Schuster’s 2022 guaranteed money is only $2,490,000, but his production and per-game roster bonuses raise his contract’s value. Those performance bonuses will impact the Chiefs’ 2023 cap, but Smith-Schuster only takes up 1.4% of Kansas City’s 2022 cap space. That is a steal, especially since Smith-Schuster has 688 receiving yards and two touchdowns in 11 games. That might not sound like a lot, but his 62.5 receiving yards per game are 26th in the NFL. That is higher than several notable names, like D.J. Moore, Deebo Samuel, and Brandin Cooks.