Trading Preston Smith Would Be Risky Business For the Green Bay Packers
Would the Green Bay Packers trade defensive end Preston Smith?
It seems unlikely, but NFL Media’s Ian Rappaport said that Smith is on “several teams’ radars” as the Nov. 5 trade deadline nears.
The 31-year-old Smith was Green Bay’s oldest player before the Packers signed 33-year-old kicker Brandon McManus earlier this week.
Smith has 2.5 sacks and 14 tackles through six games. Green Bay rotates its defensive linemen, but Smith ranks second among the Packers’ defensive ends playing 58.5% of the snaps.
Smith, now in his 10th NFL season, has missed just one game in that time — a Week 7 contest in 2021 due to an oblique injury. Smith, the poster child for reliability, played the first 102 games of his career and has played in the last 50.
Smith spent his first four years in Washington, then signed with Green Bay in free agency in March, 2019.
“I think Preston’s just the model of consistency in terms of his availability, you can always count on him, and you have been able to do that for years,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “I think with a bunch of young guys in the locker room, to have a guy like him is invaluable.”
The Packers rotate defensive ends Rashan Gary (65.4% snap count), Smith, Kingsley Enagbare (41.3%) and Lukas Van Ness (39.2%). Moving Smith would give Green Bay’s younger ends more opportunities to grow, but would also be taking away a key piece of a defense that ranks ninth in scoring.
Smith has 44.0 sacks during his first five-plus years with the Packers, which ranks No. 6 on Green Bay’s all-time list. Defensive end Aaron Kampman holds the No. 5 spot with 54.0 sacks.
Smith was one of only two NFL players (T.J. Watt) with 65-plus sacks (66), five-plus interceptions (five) and five-plus forced fumbles (nine) from 2015-23. He’s also one of 11 players to post at least 8.0 sacks in each of the last three seasons (2021-23).
