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 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.

THE PATRIOTS TURNED heads Thursday night in their preseason opener by only playing rookie quarterback Drake Maye one series against the Panthers.

Jacoby Brissett started the 17-3 win and played four snaps before giving way to Maye on the next series. Maye was on the field for just seven plays on his drive before Bailey Zappe took over for seven drives and 36 snaps. Rookie sixth-round pick Joe Milton III entered the game late in the third quarter and played three drives and took 20 snaps.

“Going into the game, I had talked to AVP (offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, senior offensive assistant Ben) McAdoo and the entire offensive staff about what’s the plan for the quarterback,” Patriots Coach Jerod Mayo said Friday morning. “And this conversation has been ongoing. This was always in the plan to develop these guys this way. And we’ll see how it looks going forward. It won’t always be the same, because we’re still evaluating everyone on the roster but especially the quarterbacks.”

Mayo was asked a follow-up about why the team didn’t feel it was important for Maye, the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, to work on operation, huddle and game management in his preseason debut.

“Those things are always under consideration,” Mayo said. “I would also say during practice he gets a lot of reps.”

Brissett and Maye both played behind the Patriots’ starting offensive line on Thursday night. Mayo emphasized the importance of protecting Maye.

“That’s always a consideration. If he’s in there, you want him in there with the starting offensive line,” Mayo said Thursday night. “We’ve got to protect that guy. Not saying we don’t have to protect the other guys, but that absolutely did go into it.”

The Patriots will practice Sunday and Monday then hold a joint session with the Eagles on Tuesday before a walk-through Wednesday and their second preseason game Thursday.

“Going into the Eagles week, this honestly is a huge week for everyone to practice against the Eagles and then, really, we’ll see how the reps kind of break down in the game, but I expect Drake to get more reps than he did in the first game against the Eagles,” Mayo said.

“Each one of these quarterbacks has an individual development plan that I went over with AVP and the rest of his staff,” Mayo continued when asked about the patient approach they’re taking with Maye. “We’re sticking with that plan until it’s time to change.”