The NFL regular season is less than a month away, and teams are looking to finalize their rosters. On Tuesday, Pittsburgh Steelers fans saw Najee Harris join the New York Giants. Shortly after, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that New York will release veteran WR JuJu Smith-Schuster.
As the Giants look to make space for Harris, parting ways with Smith-Schuster may put his playing career in doubt. Over the last two weeks, the former receiver has been dealing with a left knee injury that held him out of New York's preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings.
And with the Giants putting on the open market, they can give Harris a chance to revive his career while putting Smith-Schuster's in some danger.
Najee Harris' development could put Juju Smith-Schuster's career on life support
Harris' career after leaving the Steelers hasn't been smooth sailing. Last year, he signed with Los Angeles, but unluckily, he tore his Achilles in his third game with them. Harris has been using the last several months to rehab, and he goes to a Giants team that badly needs some depth.
Yet at the same time, Harris isn't the same player he was with the Steelers. During his time with Pittsburgh, he was a workhorse, logging at least 280 touches in each of his four campaigns. The days of him being the go-to option are long gone, and he's exactly what New York signed him for. It's to play a couple of snaps a game.
Harris' pass-blocking chops will be leaned upon after Tyrone Tracy Jr. missed a block that allowed Jaxson Dart to take a vicious hit in the preseason contest against the Vikings. While that's good for Harris, it isn't positive for Smith-Schuster.
He was looking to carve out a spot in a Giants receiver room that was wide open after Malik Nabers. Smith-Schuster wasn't able to take advantage of the opportunity. The knee injury played a role in that, but the fact that he's becoming a free agent while dealing with that problem isn't ideal.
Teams that are looking to add players at this point want to sign someone who can either step in as a depth piece or fight for a roster spot. And as of now, Smith-Schuster can't do either of those things.
For the last three seasons, Smith-Schuster hasn't been more than a WR4/5 on a team. It appears that's all you can rely on him to be, but it gets to a point when that may not be good enough. Not sticking on a Giants team starving for pass catchers isn't a good sign.
His recent track record shows what you can expect, and getting axed this close to the season adds another hurdle. Harris and Smith-Schuster's best days in the league came with the Steelers, and now both guys are just fighting to make a 53-man roster.
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