Following the departure of Bill Belichick from the Patriots, the team has decided to re-sign several of the players he acquired. That has made Belichick look good, from the standpoint of evaluating personnel.
New England’s latest transaction does not.
By cutting receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster after one season, the Patriots have admitted that Belichick erred in giving Smith-Schuster $16 million guaranteed — $7 million of which is owed to him as 2024 salary.
Compounding the mistake is the fact that, before signing Smith-Schuster, Belichick opted not to keep receiver Jakobi Meyers, a player Belichick signed as an undrafted free agent in 2019.
Meyers wanted to stay. The negotiation stalled due to $1 million on a three-year deal. And so he signed with the Raiders. And the Patriots signed Smith-Schuster.
Yes, Smith-Schuster was cheaper; he signed for $25 million over three years and Meyers got $33 million over three from the Raiders. But the Raiders also got 71 catches for 807 yards and 10 total touchdowns last year. JuJu produced 29 catches for 260 yards and one touchdown.
And now Smith-Schuster is available to any team that wants him.
No personnel executive is perfect. As to Belichick, however, his coaching often compensated for his scouting errors. Especially at receiver, where the Patriots under Belichick struggled to draft and develop young players. In Belichick’s last year with the team, they failed to reward an in-house success story, opting instead for a fresh face that, after one season, flopped.