Preston Smith reveals an interesting detail about his trade from the Packers to the Steelers
It was surprising to a degree that the Green Bay Packers got so little compensation for edge rusher Preston Smith right before the trade deadline. Even though he will soon be 32 and is not exactly an inexpensive player, he is still relatively productive and plays a premium position. The Packers saved only around $2 […]
It was surprising to a degree that the Green Bay Packers got so little compensation for edge rusher Preston Smith right before the trade deadline. Even though he will soon be 32 and is not exactly an inexpensive player, he is still relatively productive and plays a premium position.
The Packers saved only around $2 million, so it could have made sense to keep him until the end of the season, since the contract has no guarantees beyond 2024. But that's not what Preston Smith wanted.
In his first press conference in Pittsburgh, Smith revealed that he requested a trade from the Packers because he didn't feel comfortable with the scheme change in Green Bay.
"I got what I asked for," Preston Smith said. "I've been watching this team for a while, and I thought, 'Man, I'd love to play in that system. I love the play style and I love this team already."
Preston Smith played his entire career up to this season as a 3-4 outside linebacker. When the Packers fired Joe Barry and hired new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, the base defense changed to a 4-3, and edge defenders are now listed as defensive ends.
The switch isn't as impactful as it used to be, since teams play nickel defense most of the time anyway. However, the defensive front structure is different enough to make Smith feel like he was not playing at his best.
In nine games this season, Smith had 10 pressures and 2.5 sacks. Over the past few weeks, he was losing snaps to younger players like Lukas Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare. According to Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst, that trend wouldn't revert back.
"There are some players we wanted to see, the trend of how the snaps were going was gonna continue that way," Gutekunst said on Tuesday. "It's not something that we set out to do, we didn't call a bunch of teams and say 'Hey, are you interested in Preston Smith?', because we know his value. But when the opportunity came, we got the phone call, we just thought it made sense for us for what we are trying to do. I think he's going to a very good situation, with a playoff-caliber team and a really good organization."
The Packers accepted a seventh-round pick for Preston Smith, but the Steelers will pay his entire remaining salary for 2024. The Steelers have Smith under contract through 2026, but those are now basically two team options of $13.4 million in 2025 and $14.1 million in 2026 without any guarantees.
In Pittsburgh, Preston Smith will enter the edge rotation behind starters TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith.
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