Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
Packers are sellers at the trade deadline again, opening space for young talent at a struggling position
There has been a lot of speculation about the Green Bay Packers activity to buy an edge rusher at the trade deadline. Actually, they are selling one.
Less than two hours before the trade deadline on Tuesday, the Packers sent edge rusher Preston Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Packers are getting a seventh-round pick in return, which is mostly a salary dump for Green Bay.
The move hasn't come out of nowhere, though. For some weeks, Smith has been talked about in trade scenarios. Even though the Packers are a contender with a 6-3 record going into their bye week, Smith is an older (he will be 32 in two weeks) and expensive player.
By doing that move, Green Bay opens up around $2 million in cap space in 2024. The big savings are in the future, with the Packers clearing up $7.6 million in 2025, $18.207 million in 2026, and $1.667 million in a void year in 2027.
Green Bay has $12.083 million in dead money in 2024 and $9.881 million in 2025.
Preston Smith signed with the Packers in a free agency spending spree in 2019. He was the last-standing piece of that group that also had Za'Darius Smith, Adrian Amos, and Billy Turner. Smith even signed an extension with the Packers two years ago, but he's having a quiet season in 2024. In nine games, Preston generated 10 pressures and 2.5 sacks.
Reasoning
Beyond the money factor, the only positive for the Packers is that their young edge rushers will have more snaps — especially former first-round pick Lukas Van Ness. The roster also has Kingsley Enagbare, Arron Mosby, and Brenton Cox Jr.
It’s the second consecutive trade deadline in which the Packers are sellers. Last year, they traded cornerback Rasul Douglas to the Buffalo Bills for a swap of third- and fifth-round picks.
