There's only so much within a player's control while he waits for the phone to ring, but JuJu Smith-Schuster is doing everything he can to stay ready for his moment.
Smith-Schuster is one of many veteran FAs hoping for a chance to extend his career for another season after the initial wave of free agency has settled. The wideout has already enjoyed a nine-year stint in the NFL, with a Super Bowl ring as the cherry on top of what is already an impressive career. But he's hoping to make it a full decade in the National Football League.
The Kansas City Chiefs have given Smith-Schuster a place to call home for three of the last four seasons, but a series of one-year deals has failed to provide any more security than the immediate season. That's left Smith-Schuster waiting in 2026 for the first time in the NFL.
Last year, the Chiefs re-signed Smith-Schuster in mid-March, which means the wideout didn't face the sort of wait he's facing now. The previous year, he joined the Chiefs after getting cut by the New England Patriots before roster cuts in late August. In 2022, Smith-Schuster signed with K.C. after the first week of free agency, on March 20.
In other words, Smith-Schuster has never found himself unemployed around the time that everyone else is going into OTAs and preparing for mandatory minicamp. That means he's having to put in the work on his own time (and dollar) but he's doing what it takes and letting teams know he's ready to return to the field for whichever team will have him.
Little Session 🏀⛹🏾♂️ pic.twitter.com/V67hN6BmpL
— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) May 26, 2026
In the workout video, Smith-Schuster describes his regimen: "We getting this work today, baby. We hit the field. We got the speed work. We got the receiver work. Now we're in the weight room."
We spoke with Smith-Schuster earlier this offseason and he spoke highly of the Chiefs' wide receiver room. He's undoubtedly hoping to rejoin them, and the reunion would make sense given that K.C. hasn't exactly made any major upgrades to a unit that was already troubling. The Chiefs were tied to the top wideouts in mock drafts, but so far, the front office has yet to make a major addition other than re-signing Tyquan Thornton to a two-year deal in free agency.
Smith-Schuster would provide a bit of security for a wide receiver corps that's thin in terms of trusted playmakers and veteran leaders. However, such a move still wouldn't raise the overall ceiling or address the primary concern at the position. Perhaps the Chiefs have moved on from Smith-Schuster like they have with other veterans this offseason. If so, the experienced WR might have to wait a bit longer, until training camp, to see where he might play next.
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