JuJu Smith-Schuster wore No. 9 in his lone season with the Kansas City Chiefs, but it sounds like he’ll be wearing a different number in New England.
Smith-Schuster signed a three-year deal with the Patriots last week. In order for him to wear No. 9 with his new team, he’d have to take it from pass rusher Matthew Judon.
The NFL has a rule requiring players who change their number to purchase any unsold jerseys that have been printed with their name and number on them. Smith-Schuster told reporters he doesn’t want to make Judon have to pay up, and he doesn’t want to pay the money himself.
“When you’re on the same team and you have the same number and if you change it, you have to pay the fee for the rest of that jersey and then whatever new number you get, you’ve got to pay the inventory for that,” Smith-Schuster said, via the Kansas City-Star. “And that’s a whole process. He’s probably going to have to ask for 100k, which I’m definitely not going to do.”
Smith-Schuster, who also wore 9 when he played at USC in college, indicated he’d be open to going back to the No. 19 he wore during his years in Pittsburgh.
JuJu Smith-Schuster says he’d like to wear No. 9, but with that taken he’s open to going back to No. 19
— Alex Barth (@RealAlexBarth) March 21, 2023
In 16 regular season games with the Chiefs, Smith-Schuster caught 78 passes for 933 yards and three touchdowns. He followed that up with 10 receptions for 89 yards in three playoff games.
Of course, Smith-Schuster’s biggest postseason contribution was the holding penalty he drew on Eagles cornerback James Bradberry late in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LVII.
The penalty gave the Chiefs a new set of downs and allowed them to run down the clock before Harrison Butker’s game-winning chip shot field goal.