Source: Patriots releasing veteran wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster

The Patriots are releasing wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, a source confirmed to the Boston Herald on Friday.

Smith-Schuster, who signed a three-year, $25.5 million contract with $16 million guaranteed with the Patriots last offseason, was buried on the depth chart behind Kendrick Bourne, DeMario Douglas, Ja’Lynn Polk, K.J. Osborn, Jalen Reagor, Javon Baker and Tyquan Thornton this summer in training camp.

The Patriots will take on $9,633,333 in dead money this year by releasing Smith-Schuster now. They’ll also take on $2,633,334 in dead money next year. The Patriots still owe Smith-Schuster $7 million in guaranteed money.

Any money Smith-Schuster earns in a new contract will offset what the Patriots owe him, but it likely won’t be much if his new team signs him to a veteran-minimum deal.

The Patriots elected to sign Smith-Schuster over re-signing Jakobi Meyers in free agency last offseason. The move did not pay off. Smith-Schuster caught just 29 passes for 260 yards with one touchdown in his lone season with the Patriots. Meyers, meanwhile, caught 71 passes for 807 yards with eight touchdowns last season with the Raiders.

Smith-Schuster, 27, played 11 snaps but was not targeted in Thursday’s preseason opener against the Panthers.

The 2017 second-round pick was coming off of a 78-catch, 933-yard, three-touchdown campaign with the Chiefs before signing with the Patriots, but he dealt with a lingering knee injury from the 2022 season. He has 430 career receptions for 5,048 yards with 30 touchdowns in his seven-year NFL career. His best season came in 2018 with the Steelers when he caught 111 passes for 1,426 yards with seven touchdowns.

Smith-Schuster said during the spring that he finally felt 100% on his knee and that he never got to that point in 2023 with the Patriots.