Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who helped the Kansas City Chiefs win a Super Bowl two years ago, will be released by the New England Patriots, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity Friday because the team hasn’t announced the move. NFL Network was the first to report his release.
The Patriots signed Smith-Schuster to a three-year, $25 million contract last year but he only caught 29 passes for 260 yards and one touchdown.
Smith-Schuster played just 11 snaps in New England’s preseason opener against Carolina on Thursday night.
The 27-year-old was a second-round pick by Pittsburgh in 2017. He had a career-best 111 catches for 1,426 yards and seven TDs in 2018.
Smith-Schuster joined the Chiefs in 2022 after they traded away All-Pro Tyreek Hill. He led Kansas City’s wideouts with 78 receptions for 933 yards and three TDs.
Smith-Schuster was held by Eagles cornerback James Bradberry on a critical third down late in Super Bowl 57. The penalty gave the Chiefs a first down and allowed them to use up more time before Harrison Butker kicked a go-ahead 27-yard field goal with 8 seconds remaining.
The Patriots drafted receiver Ja’Lynn Polk in the second round. Demario Douglas, a sixth-round pick in 2023, led the Patriots with 561 yards receiving on 49 catches. Kendrick Bourne is New England’s top receiver but was limited to eight games because of injuries last season.
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FILE - New England Patriots wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster speaks with reporters following NFL football training camp, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
New England Patriots wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster makes a catch during NFL football training camp, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Calling it “unserious and unacceptable,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries rejected on Monday a proposal from Speaker Mike Johnson that links continued government funding for six months with a measure to require proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
The response frames the spending battle to come over the next weeks as lawmakers work to reach consensus on a short-term spending bill that would prevent a partial government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. Lawmakers hope to avoid a shutdown just weeks before voters go to the polls.
Johnson is punting the final decisions on full-year spending into next year when a new president and Congress take over. He's doing so at the urging of members within his conference who believe that Republicans will be in a better position next year to secure the funding and policy priorities they want.
But Jeffries said the appropriations process should be wrapped up by this Congress, and the short-term measure should reflect that. It also needs to be free of “partisan policy changes," Jeffries said.
“There is no other viable path forward that protects the health, safety and economic well-being of hardworking American taxpayers,” Jeffries wrote in a letter to House Democrats released Monday.
Lawmakers are returning to Washington this week following a traditional August recess spent mostly working in their home states and districts. They are not close to completing work on the dozen annual appropriations bills that will fund the agencies during the next fiscal year, so they’ll need to approve a stopgap measure.
The House bill including the proof of citizenship mandate for voter registration complicates the effort. The voter registration measure is popular with House Republicans and has already passed once before in that chamber. The House Freedom Caucus, which generally includes the chamber’s most conservative members, called for it to be attached to the spending bill.
Republicans say that requiring proof of citizenship would ensure that U.S. elections are only for American citizens, improving confidence in the nation’s federal election system, something that former President Donald Trump has sought to undermine over the years.
Opponents say it is already against the law for noncitizens to vote in federal elections and that the document requirements would disenfranchise millions of Americans who do not have the necessary documents readily available when they get a chance to register.
Trump and other Republicans have revved up their complaints about the issue of noncitizens voting with the influx of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border under President Joe Biden’s administration. They are contending Democrats let them in to add them to the voter rolls. But the available evidence shows that noncitizen voting in federal elections is incredibly rare.
Johnson called the proof of citizenship mandate a “righteous fight” as he entered the Capitol Monday afternoon. He said that even if a small percentage of people who have entered the U.S. illegally end up registering to vote, “they can throw the election. This is serious business.”
Senate Democrats have also come out against Johnson's proposal. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the bill “pure partisan posturing."
“Speaker Johnson knows deep down that he needs to work with Democrats to get anything done,” Schumer said.
The White House said that if the bill reaches Biden's desk he will veto it. The veto threat said states already have effective safeguards in place to verify voters' eligibility and maintain accurate voter rolls.
“Instead of working in a bipartisan manner to keep the Government open and provide emergency funding for disaster needs, House Republicans have chosen brinksmanship,” the White House statement said.
The bill does provide an additional $10 billion for a disaster relief fund administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But the White House said it did not cover the full amount needed through other disaster relief programs, such as for highways and bridges damaged by disasters in 38 states.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned that long-term continuing resolutions, such as the current one to be voted on in the House this week, harm military readiness. Austin said in a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees that, if passed, the bill would mark the second year in a row and the seventh time in the past 15 years that the department is delayed in moving forward with some critical priorities.
“These actions subject Service members and their families to unnecessary stress, empower our adversaries, misalign billions of dollars, damage our readiness, and impede our ability to react to emergent events,” Austin wrote.
Associated Press congressional reporter Stephen Groves contributed to this report.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., addresses the audience during the Teha (The European House Ambrosetti ) economic forum in Cernobbio, Como Lake, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
FILE - The Capitol dome on Capitol Hill is seen through a glass structure in Washington, on April 6, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
