The Green Bay Packers traded edge rusher Preston Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers before the NFL’s trade deadline on Tuesday, Nov. 5, in exchange for a seventh-round pick in 2025. While it was ultimately Green Bay’s decision to part ways with the $52 million pass rusher with 68.5 career sacks, the move mirrored Smith’s wishes, who had requested to leave the team earlier this season. “Preston Smith is happy to be a Steeler,” Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote to X on Wednesday, November 6. “Says a few weeks ago he requested a trade from the Packers.”
The Packers defence was beginning to phase Smith out as his snap counts declined during the season, despite Green Bay experiencing a dearth in terms of QB pressure generated off the edge.
Despite Smith’s decreased playing time and production, as well as the fact that the team was likely to release him next summer if he couldn’t be traded, ESPN’s Seth Walder slammed the Packers’ move and awarded the contract a C+. In Green Bay, he recorded 2.5 sacks and a 10% pass rush win rate, which is much lower than normal for an edge rusher and his lowest rating since the metric was introduced in 2017.
His playing time had been decreasing, and he only played 38% of defensive snaps in Week 9. I appreciate Green Bay’s desire to freshen up its lacklustre pass rush and decide to get something for Smith before cutting him next offseason, but I don’t think I’d have let him go for so little unless it was accompanied by a trade to bring in a different pass rusher.
Especially since the Packers are contenders! The Packers were harshly chastised for failing to make a trade before the trade deadline this season, in large part because the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders — both Super Bowl candidates — made significant moves to enhance their defences for the stretch drive.
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