{"id":107044,"date":"2025-06-05T22:22:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T22:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/107044\/"},"modified":"2025-06-05T22:22:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T22:22:10","slug":"breer-jonnu-smith-to-the-steelers-makes-so-much-sense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/107044\/","title":{"rendered":"Breer: Jonnu Smith To The Steelers ‘Makes So Much Sense’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pittsburgh Steelers fans were surprised to hear recently that there were reported talks between the Steelers and the Miami Dolphins regarding TE Jonnu Smith. Since then, reports, and specific insiders, have gone back and forth<\/a> regarding whether the two teams are actively looking into a trade.<\/p>\n

NFL insider Albert Breer thinks Smith to the Steelers would make a lot of sense. He shared those thoughts Thursday on The Breer Report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you have to have a plan for Jonnu Smith, and that\u2019s why the Pittsburgh situation makes so much sense,\u201d Breer said. \u201cDonald Parham, who they brought in, is dealing with an injury right now, so there is a need there at that position. This move would give the Steelers, and Arthur Smith, their offensive coordinator, a lot of flexibility to do a lot of different things offensively. Arthur Smith knows how to use him, so it would make all the sense in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s anybody who knows Jonnu Smith well, it\u2019s the Steelers offensive coordinator<\/a> who happens to share the same last name. Arthur was Jonnu\u2019s offensive coordinator for the 2019 and 2020 seasons with the Tennessee Titans. During his final year as the head coach for the Atlanta Falcons in 2023, the two reunited, and Jonnu had one of the better years of his career.<\/p>\n

He found a way to show improvement quite quickly with the Miami Dolphins in 2024, though. Call him a late bloomer if you want, but at the age of 29, Smith put together the best season we\u2019ve seen from him. Sometimes you just need a chance to prove yourself, and that\u2019s what the Dolphins gave him. Smith had 111 targets last year, a significant jump from his previous career-high of 70. He turned them into 88 receptions for 884 yards and eight touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Because Pat Freiermuth is already on the roster, many think there\u2019s not a place for Smith on the offense. Looking at the Steelers\u2019 2024 receiving production, though, they probably could have used his talents. Those 884 yards would have been the second-most of any Steelers pass catcher last year. It\u2019s also over 200 yards more than Freiermuth\u2019s total of 653.<\/p>\n

Smith was just 16 yards shy of George Pickens, who led Pittsburgh with 900 yards. Smith wouldn\u2019t be the first option in Pittsburgh, and the case can be made that they need a wide receiver more. However, if he was to be traded and repeated that production, or even came close to it, few would complain.<\/p>\n

That said, Breer doesn\u2019t get the sense Dolphins are shopping him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the Dolphins are actively looking to move Jonnu Smith off their roster,\u201d Breer said. \u201cBut it would make some sense based on where they are as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam Schefter broke the news that the Steelers and Dolphins were talking about Smith. Since then, reports have been flying around, each one seemingly different by the day. However, as Breer alludes to earlier, the Donald Parham news does complicate things. He reportedly injured his Achilles<\/a> during an OTA practice on Wednesday, sidelining him for the year.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, it does make some sense that rumors would have picked back up. As of now, it doesn\u2019t seem like a trade is imminent. If one were to happen, Arthur Smith will have a fun tight end room to work with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh Steelers fans were surprised to hear recently that there were reported talks between the Steelers and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[7453,7,7470,251,2348],"class_list":{"0":"post-107044","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-albert-breer","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-jonnu-smith","11":"tag-miami-dolphins","12":"tag-sports-illustrated"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114633096846460705","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}