Colbert - Not Ruling Out Re-Signing JuJu Smith-Schuster

Pittsburgh Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert spoke today at the NFL Combine. Colbert covered several different topics, but one that was very interesting was about free agent receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. Smith-Schuster of course will be heading to the open market on March 16 for the second season in a row.

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The Steelers potentially could lose three of their receivers from 2021, with Smith-Schuster, Ray-Ray McCloud, and James Washington all set to be free agents. The team might have thoughts that former second round pick Anthony Miller could step into a role on the 53-man roster after spending most of last season on the practice squad. Miller of course was drafted by the Bears and has been plagued by inconsistency and bad quarterbacks.

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Colbert said that he was impressed by Smith-Schuster's ability to return from what is 99% of the time a season ending injury, and suit up for the Steelers Wild Card playoff game against Kansas City. He then said they wouldn't rule out an attempt to re-sign him. It's unclear on what Smith-Schuster's market will even be coming off almost an entire missed season. He seemed to have some interest last season when he hit the open market, but there's no concrete evidence of real the offers from teams like Kansas City, and Baltimore. It's likely that he won't be able to get the long term deal that he covets. The team that might be willing to do a longer term deal is Pittsburgh, and that seems to be the only path that he returns.

Colbert was asked about Diontae Johnson's contract situation as he will be entering the final year of his deal. He's coming off of his first Pro Bowl season and is the team's clear #1 receiver. He said the team would look at his contract, but that conversation wouldn't come until after the draft. Johnson and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick are two players the team would consider signing prior to the start of 2022 with Fitzpatrick being priority #1.