Patriots already regretting big free-agent WR signing?

By Vinny Somma | Last updated 9/15/23

The New England Patriots appear to be souring on JuJu Smith-Schuster a mere one game into his tenure in Foxborough.

According to Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald, multiple team sources believe Smith-Schuster is "not presently among the team’s five most effective pass-catchers."

The report comes after Smith-Schuster caught four of seven targets for 33 yards in his Patriots debut, a 25-20 loss against the Philadelphia Eagles. The former Pro Bowl wideout played just 54% of New England's offensive snaps, his lowest snap percentage in a season opener since his rookie season with the Steelers in 2017.

Of his 43 offensive snaps against the Eagles, Smith-Schuster ran 29 routes, 27 fewer than Kendrick Bourne (56) and 16 less than rookie sixth-round pick Kayshon Boutte (45), per CBS Sports.

While it is important not to overreact to Week 1 numbers, paying someone WR1 money to operate as the fourth or fifth option in the passing game is less than ideal, regardless of how early it is in the season.

According to Spotrac, the Patriots inked Smith-Schuster to the third-richest total guaranteed deal among free-agent wideouts at $16 million this past offseason.

The decision to pay Smith-Schuster over retaining 2022 leading receiver Jakobi Meyers — who scored two touchdowns in his Las Vegas Raiders debut — at $5 million more guaranteed is a head-scratcher.

The Patriots are notorious for using different packages on a week-by-week basis based on matchups, meaning it would not come as a shock if Smith-Schuster paced all Pats pass-catchers in usage for Week 2.

However, the more likely scenario is that Smith-Schuster wallows as the fourth or fifth wideout in the team's rotation until DeVante Parker (knee) returns from injury and ultimately catapults him in the pecking order.

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