It’s been quiet on the Jonnu Smith front.<\/p>\n
After an initial report that the Miami Dolphins<\/a> had engaged in trade discussions<\/a> with the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> involving tight end Jonnu Smith, there’s been some twists and turns since.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on June 3 during the Dolphins’ OTAs that the Steelers<\/a> were not expected to trade for Smith. Then, later that same day, the Steelers reportedly reignited trade talks surrounding Smith<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now that the Steelers signed quarterback Aaron Rodgers<\/a>, is there more urgency for Pittsburgh to try to get a deal done and to get another weapon in tow quickly? That would certainly seem logical.<\/p>\n Rodgers currently has wide receivers DK Metcalf and Calvin Austin III and tight end Pat Freiermuth as his top pass-catchers to work with. But, the Steelers’ brass knows that it needs to bring in more talent for its 41-year-old veteran signal-caller.<\/p>\n CBS NFL insider Jonathan Jones discussed the Steelers’ skill position pursuit on a recent episode of the “Pushing the Pile”<\/a> podcast.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n “They’re going to have to get another pass-catcher. I don’t know if that’s a wide receiver and I don’t know if that’s a tight end. They’re going to have to get a pass-catcher and they know that. They’ve been lowballing teams when they make a call. ‘Hey, how about this guy? No, we’re not doing that for a conditional sixth-round pick.’ They’ll get there,” Jones said of the Steelers’ front office.<\/p>\n After inking Rodgers to a one-year, $13.6 million contract, the Steelers have $18.8 million in effective cap space per Over The Cap<\/a>. Pittsburgh currently has $87.1 million and $184.6 million in effective cap space in 2026 and 2027 according to Over The Cap.<\/p>\n Though the Steelers haven’t made an enticing enough offer yet to pry Smith away from the Dolphins, that’s a good bit of financial flexibility for Pittsburgh to operate with if it does strike a deal with Miami and then wants to keep Smith longterm.<\/p>\n According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Smith is asking for a substantially larger sum of money<\/a>. Smith’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said in early June that Miami is still Smith’s first choice<\/a>, though.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa shared his stance on Smith’s future in Miami during minicamp<\/a>, indicating he’d like Miami to lock in Smith for the future.<\/p>\n “Oh 100%, that\u2019s my guy. That\u2019s my dog. Jonnu has done really good for us. I have nothing bad to say about him. I love him as a person, too, outside of football. I think all of our guys that do what they need to do, they should get paid,” Tagovailoa said Tuesday from the\u00a0Dolphins’ mandatory minicamp in Miami Gardens.<\/p>\n Smith is coming off a career season in which he hauled in 88 passes for 884 yards and eight scores. All of those numbers set new single-season Dolphins records for a Miami tight end.<\/p>\n That’s plenty of incentive for Miami to keep Smith around. But, with Smith’s absence from the Dolphins’ minicamp<\/a> and the Steelers looking for weapons to win right now, that potential trade link remains worth monitoring.<\/p>\n