Kovacevic: Clearly, JuJu was management's overarching offseason priority ... but why?

JuJu Smith-Schuster's a good football player. Occasionally very good. And, if reaching back to his rookie year, he appeared to have a legit opportunity to become great.

But he isn't worth this.

He isn't worth the machinations the Steelers' management just went through with a now-exposed singular priority of signing him back out of free agency, an effort that culminated with the one-year, $8 million contract achieved Friday afternoon. And if I'm being full-bore blunt, he isn't worth a fraction of those machinations.

Try to process it all:

• Five of the 11 starters from the NFL's most dynamic defense have been allowed to walk, were released or, in the latest with Steven Nelson, have been told they're free to seek out a trade. Before Nelson, Bud Dupree, Mike Hilton and Tyson Alualu signed with other teams, and Vince Williams was flat-out let go. Nearly half of the overall group ... gone.

• Two potential free agents were retained in Cam Sutton and Zach Banner.

• Two potential restructured contracts, those of Stephon Tuitt and Chris Boswell, haven't happened. Two potential extensions that also would save on cap hits for 2021, those of Joe Haden and David DeCastro, haven't happened. Potential cap savings by most estimates: $10 million or $15 million.

Available cap space before JuJu was signed: $4.27 million.

Available cap space once he puts pen to paper, given that he'll cost only $2.4 million against the cap based on voidable years: Less than $3 million.

Available cap space if they'd already done those restructures and extensions before getting all creative with JuJu: More than $15 million?

Chance of bringing back any of the guys already lost: Zero.

Seriously, what the hell are Kevin Colbert, Omar Khan, Mike Tomlin and, yeah, Art Rooney II doing here?

On Jan. 28, in his annual offseason meeting with media, including DK Pittsburgh Sports, Rooney spoke the following: "If I had my druthers, I'd say, if I could have the same roster back over in the next year, I'd do it. Obviously, that's not the case."

Obviously. But that belies the point that the man who owns and operates the franchise stated plainly that he'd prefer to bring back as much of the 2020 roster as he could. And I'd have a hard time believing he wasn't referring principally to the defense, given its relative dominance these past two seasons.

Poof!

My goodness, what happened?

My own thought: Ben Roethlisberger happened and, in turn, JuJu happened. And this management team, as it's done many, many times, melted within the concept that the happiness of the franchise quarterback means more than anything. And from there, once the franchise quarterback took his own pay cut -- not just in cap hit but a literal pay cut of $5 million -- after expressing publicly his wish to bring JuJu back ... well, the storyline just had to play out.

That, my friends, is the what, the how and the why. And all else was collateral damage.

I don't like it. I don't fully understand it, either, but that doesn't stop me from saying I don't like it.

This football team had one facet that was special, and it sure wasn't the offense. As I've written countless times, all through the 2020 season and well afterward, nothing should've mattered more than keeping this defense as intact as possible. Nothing, nothing, nothing about the offense, at least not any aspect that would've been in jeopardy, should've mattered more. Because none of it comes with the same value, collectively or individually.

No, I'm not exempting Ben from that. And I'm certainly not exempting JuJu from that. Neither of those two would've matched the value of preserving a legitimately special defense.

Would it hurt to have to rebuild the offense?

Oh, for sure. But that could've been done in a year or two. Mason Rudolph would've been the quarterback for 2021 and, if that didn't work out -- I'm not suggesting it would or wouldn't, though I appreciate his potential more than most -- he'd have been on the final year of his contract, allowing management to seek out a replacement without cap repercussions. Besides, in the event Ben was gone, a quarterback could've been drafted, maybe even with an aggressive move up in the first round. And the wide receivers left in JuJu's wake -- Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, James Washington -- already are young and able enough to render his absence moot immediately.

But no, the choice was to dismantle the defense.

And don't think for a second it wasn't a choice. It absolutely was, within fair context. Maybe Bud was impossible, having just accepted five years, $85.5 million from the Titans, but maybe he wasn't. Do the math on some of those numbers I share above, but do them as if Bud was the singular priority, and you'll see what I mean. And looking past Bud, since it's realistic to suggest Robert Spillane's ready to supersede Williams, there was every opportunity to leave the secondary untouched rather than ... wow, just ravaging it.

Way too much of the media and fan fuss on this day will be about JuJu. That's always the case with him. His presence in the local sporting discussion is beyond overblown commensurate to his impact on the field. To an embarrassing extent.

I can hear it now ...

Is JuJu worth it?

Well, of course he is. He's unequivocally worth $8 million for one year ... in a vacuum. But that's not the Steelers' situation at all.

Doesn't the low cap hit mean that his situation's unrelated?

Not in the slightest. That deal wasn't done until Friday. This is where the attention was. This is where the focus was. Until this was done, other things wouldn't get done. That's entirely the issue here.

Did he really turn down offers of $13 million from the Chiefs and $11 million from the Ravens?

Only those two teams could confirm that, and they never would. The information no doubt comes directly from JuJu's representation, which would be amply aware of their client's relentless push for positive publicity. 

Me, sorry, I don't buy it for a split-second. That's a massive difference, and that sort of thing flat-out doesn't happen. Besides, anyone who wants to accept that JuJu walked away from nearly 40% more money and a chance to contend for the Super Bowl with Patrick Mahomes firing bullets his way ... yeah, go right ahead and do that.

If it's true, doesn't that make JuJu a great guy and show that he really loves Pittsburgh?

Again, everyone's free to accept what they want, beginning with his own announcement on Twitter:

He's the most duplicitous athlete I've ever covered -- one thing when his own cameras are rolling, quite another when it's just regular life -- so I'm inclined to be cynical on this count. I'm looking instead to the Steelers having a bonanza of cap space coming next summer and, in turn, the possibility that they've told him he can get a big-time, long-term deal right here if he can just stick it out for a year.

Younger people love JuJu! Older people hate him!

I'd never speak for anyone else, but I don't have a blessed thought about him other than the duplicitousness. I don't love, like, hate, dislike ... I just don't have use for anyone like that in my own life, in general. I still cover him the same way I would anyone else.

I'm sure the young/old thing applies, in general, as that's always going to reflect an embrace of the latest technology, meaning social media in this case. But speaking again for myself, I find JuJu to be masterful -- and nothing less, nothing derogatory -- in how he commands that particular art. He'll be rich and famous as long as he lives, well after he's done with football. And it's that much more masterful in light of his being wholly different when he's doing anything else.

Hey, you know, maybe the front office spent too much screen-time on their iPhones the past few weeks.

What, someone's got a better explanation for this whole mess?

Whatever. Logging off on this one now.