Once a beloved fan favorite in the midst of a Kansas City Chiefs dynasty, JuJu Smith-Schuster has been somewhat pushed out of Chiefs Kingdom after a horrendous 2025 season. Things came crumbling down around him last year when he continuously failed to get open on the field, but was forced into a high-usage role throughout the season due to team injuries.
Smith-Schuster was a major part of the Chiefs' 2022 Super Bowl run in which he amassed over 1,000 yards in the regular season and playoffs combined. In fact, it would be hard to argue that the Chiefs won the first of back-to-back Lombardi’s without JuJu’s contributions that year.
But as we all know, the NFL is an unforgiving business, and football slows down for no man. It’s clear that the 29-year-old is not who he used to be, which is why Kansas City and Brett Veach have shown no signs of bringing him back. The New York Giants, however, have expressed recent interest, and it’s a pairing that could reunite the Super Bowl champion receiver with former Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy in Big Blue.
Reunion could be had in New York between JuJu Smith-Schuster and Matt Nagy
Reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter earlier this morning, the Giants have brought in Smith-Schuster among others to work out and see if there is mutual interest between the two sides. This news comes quickly after special teams ace and receiver Gunner Olszewski tore his Achilles and will be out for the entire 2026 season.
The Giants are working out free-agent wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster, Braxton Berrios and Odell Beckham Jr. today.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 1, 2026
Smith-Schuster played in Kansas City with Giants OC Matt Nagy. pic.twitter.com/rKcbOIfcVG
What’s interesting about this is the fact that JuJu might have a hand up on the competition already, given that Matt Nagy was his OC on the Chiefs over the past two seasons and may have some built-in coach-player chemistry. Of course, there is no love lost between Chiefs fans and Nagy, as many blame him for the majority of the recent offensive struggles since working as the OC from 2023-2025.
This also gives hope that the Chiefs will look elsewhere than Smith-Schuster at the receiver positions in free agency. Given how unreliable Rashee Rice has been in every aspect of the word, and a real lack of talented depth, Kansas City might now be forced to look toward a player who may not have a distinct knowledge of the offense or chemistry with Patrick Mahomes as JuJu has, but rather possesses meaningful talent and a capability to produce when on the field.
It sounds harsh, but it’s the truth. The Chiefs need a guy who can win one-on-one routes, and at this point in his career, Smith-Schuster is not up to the billing. A reunion in New York for Nagy and JuJu is fine by the Chiefs, so long as Eric Bieniemy proves to be the right decision as a second-time OC and that whoever they bring in at receiver in the coming weeks proves to be a better player than the former Super Bowl champ.
Add us as a preferred source on Google