Giving Patrick Mahomes a weapon like JuJu Smith-Schuster to join Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce in the receiving corps just seems unfair. It really does. And for now, it's not going to happen. The 24-year-old wideout agreed to a one-year deal to return to Pittsburgh, despite several suitors, and the aforementioned Chiefs, as well as the Ravens, were among the top contenders for his services.
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Smith-Schuster discussed those two teams and some of his thought process when considering his options, including a hilarious tactic from Andy Reid in attempting to bring him to Kansas City.
"Andy Reid was just calling me and he was sending me Lombardi Trophy pictures, like constantly," Smith-Schuster said on "The Michael Irvin Podcast" with a laugh. "We had a good talk, so it would have been KC after the Steelers.
"Like, he texted [Lombardi Trophy pictures] to me while I was trying to make a decision, and you know I have so much respect for him and his team, so yeah."
As Irvin noted, he just couldn't bring himself to play for a division rival like the Ravens, but there were other reasons.
"I'm curious how they're going to be this year, having Sammy Watkins and how they're going to use him and throwing the ball, stuff like that," Smith-Schuster said. "Lamar [Jackson leads] a really heavy-run offense... and his number one target was (Mark) Andrews, a tight end..."
And so, ultimately, Smith-Schuster went back to the city he was hoping for all along, at least according to several social media posts and interviews about being a Steeler for life. There, he'll once again form one of the most dangerous and versatile receiving corps in the league alongside Chase Claypool, Diontae Johnson and James Washington.
Whether or not he'll get a Lombardi Trophy — as opposed to just images of some through text — still remains to be seen.
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