Patrick Mahomes played a central role in Chiefs signing JuJu Smith-Schuster, MVS
The Chiefs are 2-0 and enter the week 3rd in points per game. The team, who traded Tyreek’s Hill and lost other wide receivers in free agency, heads to Indianapolis, ranked sixth in passing yards and third in offensive DVOA.
Patrick Mahomes He’s obviously driving that effort, but the former MVP and Super Bowl MVP is still adjusting to a new-look receiving corps. Kansas City’s fifth-year starter did a lot to bring that group together, starting shortly after Hill’s extension talks took a turn that led to the locker room trade with Miami.
Chief GMs Brett Veach informed Mahomes in mid-March of the increased likelihood Hill would be dealt, The Athletic’s Nate Taylor notes, with the perennial Pro Bowler’s request for a significant raise becoming an untenable proposition for the Chiefs (subscription required). The Raiders Front Adams The contract changed Hill’s focus, and the Chiefs added their two free-agent wide receiver targets shortly after Adams’ extension (JuJu Smith-Schuster) and the hill trade (Márquez Valdés-Scantling).
While it looked a bit like the Chiefs brought in Smith-Schuster to complement Hill, because the team’s No. 1 wideout was still on the team when the Steeler signed him for a long time, Taylor adds that Mahomes had begun recruiting Smith-Schuster shortly after learning of Hill. he could go Smith-Schuster had been on Kansas City’s radar for two seasons. The Chiefs pursued him in 2021, but the former second-round pick of the Steelers opted to stay in Pittsburgh for one more year. A report in January indicated that Smith-Schuster was also interested in returning to the Chiefs. Mahomes helped move that deal, a one-year, $3.76 million deal, across the finish line, eyeing Pittsburgh’s slot as a player who could excel in a myriad of capacities at Kansas City.
Valdes-Scantling didn’t have the Chiefs on his radar to start free agency, according to Taylor, but Mahomes called the former Packers a deep threat shortly after the Hill deal began. MVS visited the Chiefs and signed with them a day later. The Packers had made a late push to retain their former fifth-round pick, but Taylor notes that they offered a one-year deal. However, MVS had hoped to get a one-year deal, and the Chiefs only guaranteed $8.56 million of the three-year deal and $30 million of the wide out at the signing.
Combined, the salaries of the Chiefs’ top four receivers are also factored in Michael Hardman i skyy mooresecond-round contracts: They come within a fraction of Hill’s league-record $30 million a year in Dolphins mass. Hill has gotten off to a fast start in Miami and is a better fit on a Dolphins payroll without a franchise-QB salary. Travis Kelce still leads the Chiefs in receiving by a wide margin, which should probably be expected to be the case at the end of the season barring injury, while Smith-Schuster, MVS and Hardman have combined for 21 receptions in two parties Moore is coming along more slowly, having played just 15 offensive snaps in two weeks.
