Footnotes _are_ great when done right, but I have to say that inline citations are incredibly frustrating as a reader, because they're harder to skip over. A footnote marker is small enough that your eye can continue over it, whereas a citation like (Just-OK 2020) is much harder to read.

My personal preference is to use footnotes as you suggest -- as a "here's more information for the curious" option -- whereas citations should be linked to a "references" section -- either at the end of the chapter or the book or the overall article.