Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster has already hinted at what his future might hold, even though he has just arrived with his new team.

Juju Smith-Schuster has certainly had an interesting few years to start his career in the NFL, having come into the league in 2017 when the Pittsburgh Steelers after being taken in the second round, he was able to make an instant impact on the side, offering up the perfect #2 option across from Antonio Brown in the Steelers offense. 

With a lot of the attention placed on Brown, Smith-Schuster was able to put up some very impressive numbers in his first two seasons, amassing 2,343 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns, including two touchdowns that were 97 yards long, talk about making an instant impact. 

However the past few years have seen injuries take their toll on him, as he’s missed a number of games through a variety of knocks, including last season where a shoulder injury in week 5 saw him miss all of the Steelers games before coming back for their one and only game in playoffs, which was ironically against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Making a name off the field too

Of course, you can’t talk about Smith-Schuster without mentioning the brand that he has created for himself off the gridiron as he has tried to develop a presence on social media, particularly TikTok which caused issues during the team’s 2020 season, a year that they started 11-0 before stumbling at the end of the season and finishing 12-4. 

His dancing during pregame warmups were seen as a ‘distraction’ for the team, which forced head coach Mike Tomlin to intervene when the season started going south for them in December:

However after 5 years with the team, last season was his last with them as the Steelers decided to let him go, which allowed him to make the move to the Chiefs this offseason, as he signed a one-year deal that could see him earn $10.75m depending on various incentives.

According to Smith-Schuster though, it could very well be that this season is nothing more than the Chiefs renting him from the Steelers.

‘See you later’ rather than ‘goodbye’

Speaking at an event in Pittsburgh that allowed him to interact with the fans once again, Smith-Schuster seemed to hint that a return to the Steel City cannot be ruled out at this stage, as he told a local reporter that:

"I could see myself back here. Even today, this shows a lot, that I still have fans out here coming out to support me."

Further footage from the event showed that he really does feel a connection to the fans and to the city, so it seems as if he meant what he said:

The Steelers may well have moved on from Smith-Schuster as they drafted two wide receivers in this year’s draft, George Pickens from Georgia and Calvin Austin III from Memphis, so there might not be room in the future for his services, but it is certainly a case of ‘watch this space’.