Who Should I Start? Marvin Jones or JuJu Smith-Schuster

Wednesday, October 25, 11:01 AM

Detroit Lions wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. announced on Tuesday that he was stepping away from the team due to personal family matters. Jones was then released by the team. "To be brief, I am stepping away from the team to take care of personal family matters," Jones wrote in part in an Instagram post. "Although this was no easy decision, I cannot be the person/player that I need to be for this team as well as tend to my family from afar." The veteran pass-catcher did not travel with the team to Baltimore in Week 7 and had very little production to begin the season, catching five passes for 35 yards on 10 targets. The 33-year-old didn't mention anything about retirement. The former fifth-rounder has played in 151 career games and has 547 catches for 7,421 yards and 58 touchdowns. With Jones out of the picture, Kalif Raymond could have a bigger role as wideout depth in Detroit.

Thursday, May 2, 2:33 PM

Starting next month, the New England Patriots could cut wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster at a cost of $9.6 million in dead money and no salary cap relief, per Over the Cap, while releasing him before then would incur $2.6 million more in dead money and take a small chunk out of their league-leading $54 million cap room. If the Pats traded Smith-Schuster after June 1, they'd save almost $7 million in cap space and clear room for their young receivers to see more playing time. New England could prioritize playing time for rookies Ja'Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, plus 2023 sixth-rounder Demario Douglas. It all means that Smith-Schuster may no longer be the team's No. 2 receiver, especially with Kendrick Bourne and K.J. Osborn also on the roster.