Who Should I Start? Mike Williams or JuJu Smith-Schuster

Monday, March 25, 4:40 PM

New York Jets wide receiver Mike Williams (knee) is unlikely to take part in training camp, according to general manager Joe Douglas. "Mike's rehabbing the knee injury. I would say he's not gonna be ready for the start of training camp, but again, there's a lot of time, so we'll see how the rehab progresses, Douglas said. "There's a lot of checkpoints to hit, but we do feel confident that he's gonna be ready for the year." The 29-year-old is coming off an ACL tear he suffered in Week 3 of last season, so the injury update is not much of a surprise. The longtime Los Angeles Charger is expected to fill the WR2 role behind Garrett Wilson this season. Although he has durability concerns, the contested-catch specialist could do serious damage with Aaron Rodgers at the helm, making him an intriguing best ball target in 2024.

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.