Sports

Jonnu Smith had the best year of his career with the Dolphins in 2024, setting new personal single-season highs in receptions (88) and yards (884) — marks that also set franchise records for a tight end. He also tied a career-high with eight receiving touchdowns.

Smith’s season went so well that he had a desire to be with the club for the rest of his time in the NFL.

But when he and the club could not reach an agreement on a new deal, Miami instead traded him to Pittsburgh earlier this week.

In an appearance on former teammate Terron Armstead’s podcast, Smith noted that the way everything’s gone down since the end of the season has been somewhat of a surprise.

“I didn’t foresee this happening with how the season went for me individually,” Smith said, via David Furones of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I had aspirations of ending my career in Miami, with it being home for me, my children, my family. But I understand the business side of it, and it didn’t work out. I’m grateful. I’ve got no ill feelings toward Miami and nobody in the organization.”

Smith, 29, had signed a two-year, $8.4 million deal with the Dolphins in the 2024 offseason. But he had outplayed that base salary in his first season with the club, with his representation and Miami starting talks on a potential new deal right after the year ended.

“We started this conversation in January with Miami and, obviously, giving me the run-around, ‘We’ll [get] back to it,’ ” Smith said. “Obviously, they had some things they had to address, and I understand that. I was patient with them throughout the whole entire process, and eventually it came to a point in time where they told me that they just can’t do it and they weren’t economically in a position to pay me like a Pro Bowl tight end.”

So, the Dolphins traded him and Jalen Ramsey to the Steelers, where he’ll reunite with his former offensive coordinator with Tennessee and head coach with Atlanta, Arthur Smith.

“I’m in a situation where I’m appreciated,” Smith said. “You always want to be where you’re most valued and appreciated, and that’s the situation that I found myself in with Pittsburgh.”

The new approach to college football will make it more and more like pro football. Which, in theory, provides an advantage for college football coaches with pro football experience.

Nebraska coach Matt Rhule, who spent two-plus seasons as head coach of the Carolina Panthers, believes his time in the NFL will help him when it comes to shaping a college roster in an era of players getting paid.

Via Shayni Matra of SI.com, Rhule made his case in a recent visit to Greg McElroy's podcast, Always College Football.

"I think the biggest thing you learn when you’re in the NFL is really evaluation," Rhule said. "Before, in college football, it was like, ‘Yeah, he’s a good player, let’s offer him, let’s take him.’ You get to the NFL, they’re all good players. It’s just, ‘Hey, what’s the financial value we put on this person and put on this position?’ Every year in the NFL, you go through free agency, and you see teams walking away from it with really good players because of their contract situations."

One key difference comes from the inability, under the current college system, to manipulate the available spending by carrying dollars over from one year to the next.

"The smart teams in the NFL carry money over and position themselves through the years," Rhule said. "But that discipline, I think, is something that’s really, really unique. It’s hard because you get to know the players. You want to take care of everybody."

One goal of the House settlement is to balance out the dollars. Rhule hopes that will lead to parity.

We'll believe it when we see it. With the money now flowing freely, the programs that have the most will always find a way to get it to the players, directly or indirectly.

Then there's the thing that you were probably thinking earlier and that probably goes without saying. But I'll say it anyway. Given that Rhule was 11-27 in 38 NFL games, does it make sense to put much stock in his NFL experience making a positive difference at Nebraska?

The NFL released its schedule for the 2025 season before Aaron Rodgers signed with the Steelers, but the choice for Pittsburgh's Week 1 opponent seemed to account for the likelihood that Rodgers would be joining the AFC North team.

Rodgers spent the last two seasons with the Jets and the Steelers will be visiting MetLife Stadium to play his former team in the season opener. The Jets have hired a new coach and General Manager since Rodgers took his last snap with the club, but cornerback Sauce Gardner is still on the roster and he said on The Pat McAfee Show that he's "looking forward to the challenge" of facing a player he learned a lot about the last two years.

Gardner knows that Rodgers learned a lot about him as well, so he said he's been working to come up with some new tricks ahead of the September matchup.

"He might think he knows all the tendencies that I have, but this offseason has really been me trying not to give nothing away," Gardner said. "I’ve been trying to work on literally everything because I already know I'm about to go against a wizard Week 1. I already know what time it is.”

The Jets' coaching change means that Gardner's tweaks won't be the only changes Rodgers will have to adapt to if he's going to start his Steelers tenure with a victory, but the corner's play will be a big part of the plans for the AFC East team so the matchup will be one to watch in Week 1.