The Chiefs got involved late in the running for receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. The recruiting effort, which included coach Andy Reid texting photos of a Lombardi Trophy, didn’t keep Smith-Schuster from returning to the Steelers. However, it apparently made the Chiefs the first runners up.
Via Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com, Smith-Schuster told Michael Irvin that the Chiefs, not the Ravens, were Smith-Schuster’s second choice. Apparently, Smith-Schuster wasn’t interested in playing receiver in an offense that doesn’t throw much to the receivers.
“Lamar [Jackson]'s a really, a heavy run offense with the backs that he has,” Smith-Schuster said. “I just, just point being facts. His No. 1 target was [Mark] Andrews, who’s a tight end.”
It’s possible that the Ravens really were Smith-Schuster’s second choice at the time, but now that he’s back on the Pittsburgh payroll he needs to re-embrace the Baltimore rivalry. While a far cry from a Browns is the Browns-style remark from Smith-Schuster, Smith-Schuster’s position on the Baltimore offense is something that the Ravens surely will remember when the two 2021 games against the Steelers are approaching.