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As you all know by now, the Miami Dolphins traded cornerback Jalen Ramsey and tight end Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and a fifth round pick.
We knew Ramsey was going to be traded after having a falling out with Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, but Smith didn’t want to be traded.
Smith played college ball in Miami at FIU and wanted to stay put, but he wanted a new contract, and the cap-strapped Dolphins weren’t interested in going there, at least not to the level of money Smith was looking for.
Why was Smith looking for a new deal, when he had just signed a two-year deal with the team in 2024? While, obviously, players are always looking for new deals, but rarely just one year into a two-year free agent contract. That is unusual.
You aren’t going to read this anywhere, and you will find out why in a minute, but long-time South Florida radio host Orlando Alzugaray laid out what happened.
“We are in the Jonnu Smith situation because Drew Rosenhaus negotiated an absolutely horrible deal,” Alzugaray told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “That’s why we are here. Nobody in the media will say it here because they are afraid they can’t call Drew Rosenhaus [after] ripping him. I don’t give a rat’s ass. I don’t care. I call it like it is. Drew Rosenhaus negotiated an absolutely horrible deal and somehow had to get himself out of his somehow or another, so he got the Steelers to give [Smith] $12 million this year.”
In March of 2024, Smith signed a two-year deal with the Dolphins for $8.4 million with $3.9 million guaranteed.
It was not a great deal, and after Smith hauled in 88 catches and eight touchdowns last season for Miami, he wanted a new deal, and can you blame him?
But you are not going to see people in the mainstream media criticize the Miami-based mega-agent Rosenhaus, because they get stuff from him, and if they criticize him, they will likely get cut off.
It is what it is.
Just look at how the NBA insiders have been regurgitating stuff verbatim from agents the last few days during free agency.
“The way some ‘insiders’ in the NBA tweet out agent-fed content is journalistically embarrassing,” tweeted long-time Rochester sportscaster Mike Catalana early this week.
The point is, there is a lot of quid pro quo journalism these days. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours, and it’s bad for business to rip Rosenhaus.
As for Smith, that is a nice pickup for the Steelers, the Jets Week 1 opponent, because not only is he a speedy tight end who is a coverage mismatch for linebackers, but he also played under Pittsburgh OC in Atlanta, and played well, so he’s a good system fit.
The Jets certainly know firsthand what a coverage mismatch Smith can be, like on his game-winning 10-yard TD in overtime against them last year. Also on the game-winning drive, he had 20 and 14-yard receptions.
While this is never written about, the Jets’ linebacker coverage must improve.
And media coverage needs to improve, where reporters don’t let personal relationships with agents impact what they write about the agent or their players, but don’t count on it.
Historically, Rosenhaus has negotiated some very good contracts for his players, but the Smith deal last year was not one of them.
July 2, 2025
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