Steelers don’t have a WR we should trust with a big contract extension

Each Steelers wide receiver has his own flaws. Here’s why none of them could be trusted with a big contract extension in the future. 

There aren’t many teams in the NFL that we can claim are four-deep at the wide receiver position. However, I firmly believe that Pittsburgh is one of them. After finding a way to retain JuJu Smith-Schuster, the Steelers will retain their core of four talented, young wide receivers heading into the 2021 season. But which receiver of this group has earned our trust to receive a big contract extension when their current deals are done?

At the moment, I would argue that none of them currently deserve this. In addition to the Steelers being one of the best teams in the league at drafting and developing talent at wide receiver, each of these players has flaws that shouldn’t fetch them top-dollar on their next deals (at least not from this team). Here’s a breakdown of Pittsburgh’s top four receivers and why I would be hesitant to give any of them a massive extension at this point:

JuJu Smith-Schuster

JuJu Smith-Schuster is a perfect example of a jack-of-all-trades, but a master of none. While he is currently the most well-rounded receiver on Pittsburgh’s roster, he doesn’t have more than one exceptional trait that really sets him apart from anyone else. JuJu’s best skill is his physicality and ability to fight through tackles after the catch. However, that is only going to get you so far in today’s NFL.

While we love his willingness to throw his body into the mix on each and every play, Smith-Schuster hasn’t shown enough in his first four seasons for me to offer up a big deal to him after 2021, and the fact that he was able to sign back on a one-year, $8 million deal shows that the rest of the league agrees. JuJu isn’t an elite route runner or separator and he’s only an average athlete at the position. At this point, I’m not sure if there’s much more he can do to change my mind.