Patriots: 3 wide receivers Bill Belichick must avoid this offseason
By Jerry Trotta
1. JuJu Smith-Schuster
Wait, so the No. 1 player on this list just so happens to flaunt the ideal age and skillset of a dream free agency WR signing? That’s right, and unfortunately for JuJu Smith-Schuster, his inclusion mostly has nothing to do with his receiving talent.
We love what Smith-Schuster offers from a football perspective, but there were far too may occasions this season where he seemed more concerned about his TikTok following than contributing to wins. The former second-round pick’s shenanigans reached the point of no return during the first round of the playoffs, when he broke out in dance (mid play, no less) while the undermanned Browns were absolutely steamrolling his heavily-favored Steelers.
As if that wasn’t enough to scare off potential free agent suitors, Smith-Schuster also provided opponents with bulletin board material on a consistent basis in 2020 by doling out entirely unwarranted criticism. Doing so not only put a target on his back — though he paid the ultimate price by getting walloped against the Bengals — but on his teammates’ blindside as well, and that is a major red flag for the Patriots, who have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to such antics.
The bottom line is that Smith-Schuster is far too inconsistent for the Patriots to even consider coaching him up from a maturity standpoint. For context, the 24-year-old has compiled fewer receiving yards over the last two seasons combined (1,383) than he did during his 2018 Pro Bowl campaign alone, when he finished fifth in the league with 1,426 receiving yards.
Nothing more needs to be said, folks. If it were up to us, we’d jump at the chance to sign one of the likes of Allen Robinson, Chris Godwin, Kenny Golladay or even a Will Fuller or Curtis Samuel before we’d consider pursuing Smith-Schuster.
