The Steelers will soon be looking to replace JuJu Smith-Schuster’s production from the slot. Here are four receivers who could take on his role in 2021.
Losing against the Cleveland Browns in the Wild Card round of the playoffs was only the tip of the iceberg as far as worries are concerned. ‘There’s always next year’ is a slogan that fans of most teams live by to help get them through the long winter months. Unfortunately, the Steelers have a tougher road ahead of them than nearly every team in the league.
Currently, Pittsburgh sits on a $34 million cap deficit as the cap floor is projected to drop to $176 million this year, according to Over the Cap. In addition to being forced to cut a number of players to get back under, the Steelers will be saying goodbye to many popular faces on the team. One of those is JuJu Smith-Schuster.
JuJu has been a fan favorite for several years now, and his physicality across the middle of the field will be missed. With the free agency period ahead of us, here are four wide receivers who could replace Smith-Schuster for the Steelers in 2021:
Nelson Agholor
If the Steelers want to get a JuJu-like player for about half the price, look no further than Raiders receivers, Nelson Agholor. While he never lived up to lofty expectations as a former first-round pick by the Eagles back in 2015, he is still going strong after 6 seasons in the NFL, and he certainly has a role on a football team.
Agholor is coming off the best season of his career, as he earned 896 yards and 8 touchdowns in 2020 on an impressive 18.7 yards per catch. His yards and touchdown numbers were very similar to JuJu’s and he could prove to be equally effective in Smith-Schuster’s old role at a discounted price.