KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid confirmed Monday that the club tried to re-sign wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster before he inked a multi-year deal with New England.
“We hoped,” Reid said. “You’ve got to manage all the cap stuff. We couldn’t give him what they gave him. We talked all the way through it. It’s good for him; he deserves that opportunity.”
Smith-Schuster, who had 78 catches for 933 yards with three touchdowns in 16 games last season, signed a three-year deal with the Patriots. The contract is reportedly worth $33 million.
He’s also one of two players from the Super Bowl LVII champion squad who signed elsewhere that Reid lauded as “tough” when asked about two former players at the NFL’s Annual League Meeting in Phoenix.
“I love JuJu,” Reid said. “He’s a good player — understands the game, understands space. He’s not the fastest guy, but he’s fast enough. Loves to play, so he’ll do well there.”
Reid also was asked about right tackle Andrew Wylie, who reportedly signed a three-year deal worth $24 million with Washington.
“Great kid — tough,” Reid said of Wylie. “Everything’s not perfect, but he’s tough. He’s going to fight you, and you love that part of him.”
Reid also was asked once again about his former offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy, leaving for an assistant head coach/OC role with the Commanders.
“This will give EB an opportunity to move in and run the whole show. Get my name out of it and put his name on it. I think that that’s important right now, so I was for it. As much as I’m going to miss him. I was for it, because he deserves an opportunity. Nobody works harder than EB does, so he deserves that opportunity to become a head coach.”
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Asked what traits would allow Bieniemy to succeed in his new role, Reid said, “He’s positive, so during the tough times, when things aren’t going so good, he’s not going down in the dumps. He’s going to get everybody going.”
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