If today’s news that the Patriots planned to release receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was aimed at getting someone to trade for him, the phone didn’t ring.
The Patriots have officially parted ways with the veteran receiver.
Making a trade impractical was his $7 million salary in 2024, which is fully guaranteed. That said, a team could have offered the Patriots a low-level draft pick, with New England picking up most of his salary.
Smith-Schuster, 27, signed a three-year, $25.5 million deal with the Patriots in 2023. It paid out $16 million, fully guaranteed.
The Patriots will now get an offset for whatever he earns elsewhere — presumably, the veteran minimum.
It’s unclear why the Patriots made the move when they did. And it comes at a time when some have been arguing that the recent rash of extensions awarded by the Patriots bolsters the grocery-shopping skills of former coach and de facto G.M. Bill Belichick. Extending that analogy, Smith-Schuster ended up being a half gallon of expired milk.
Still, someone is going to get a bargain. If Smith-Schuster, a big, physical receiver who has had plenty of injuries, can still play at a high level, he could go back to Pittsburgh or Kansas City, where the coaching staffs are familiar with him.