Preston Smith to the Steel City

[run pMc]

Preston was a great get IMO from WAS in FA back in the day, and he's been a good player and Packer. I wish him well.

That said, I think this was a decent move.
This is a salary dump pure and simple. Check his cap numbers in 2025 and 2026 - it saves GB a bunch of money in the future. He was highly unlikely to be on the roster next year.

His snaps were decreasing each week and he was seen as miscast in Hafley's 4-3. At 31 going on 32 years old, he'll fit better in PIT's D as depth. Opens up snaps for others.

Do you think he was making a big impact in the pass rush this year?

[Teamcheez1]

I think the Packers sniffed around, but players they wanted were too pricey or not available.
The Giants refused to move either Slayton or Ojulari, which seemed odd since they are on the last year of their contracts.
We might have been interested in Lattimore from the Saints, but he has had injury issues this year.
Newsome from the Browns was mentioned, but he hasn’t played any better than what we currently have on the roster.

An Edge would have been nice, but it was slim pickings.
It takes two to tango.

[Bretsky]

Not really a cap savings because imo we would have cut him after this year. He wasn't a fit for the new D

So instead of getting nothing after we cut him we picked up a 7th.

Hopefully Van Ness pulls his head out of his ass and shows something soon.

How is Gutebag in round one, anways ? Van Ness...Morgan....Walker....

Aside from Jordan Love, I don't think his hit rate is stellar.

[sharpe1027]

He wasn't contributing and needed to go. He also has a pretty big salary. Why can't we get more than a 7th? The same reason we are getting rid of him.

[Patler]

I figured Smith was on his way out of town when Mosby played as much as he did against the Lions. It was their test to see how life would be without Smith. I thought Mosby did some good things, just as he did in preseason. He was kind of disruptive, anyway.

That said, the only savings to the Packers is his remaining salary this year. Cutting him in the off season would have had the same cap ramifications as trading him now, except that, if they wanted, they could have designated for the dead cap hit to be spread over 2025 and 2026.

[Patler]

Smith has been doing as much as anyone else. He is #2 on the team in sacks this year!

[sharpe1027]

They're clearly making room to sign Willis.

[NewsBruin]

The older I get, the more willing I am to gripe about irrelevant things.

I'm irrationally irritated about all these trades using late-late-round draft picks as Exact Change.

Back In My Day, we'd trade a journeyman or a rental for a 3rd or a 5th round pick and someone would keep the change. Now it's a player and a seventh for a third and a sixth and two years' away seventh. I was led to believe there was not this much math needed.

[texaspackerbacker]

I saw #53, really looking good last game, and I had to look it up to see who that even was - Aron Mosby, maybe the reason Preston was expendable. I recall Mosby looking pretty good in the preseason too.

[bobblehead]

We have $12M in dead cap now. It might offset what we were going to pay him for the rest of the year of not having to pay his salary anymore.

I think that was on the books the rest of this year no matter what. We don't have him anymore so I guess that makes it "dead". We get cap relief next couple from what I understand for a guy who isn't a 4-3 down lineman. He was ceding snaps to the youngsters as it was.

[Sparkey]

I think that was on the books the rest of this year no matter what. We don't have him anymore so I guess that makes it "dead". We get cap relief next couple from what I understand for a guy who isn't a 4-3 down lineman. He was ceding snaps to the youngsters as it was.

Completely agree. Now Mosby and Cox will get more time spelling Van Ness. May or may not pan out on the field but it definitely helps the Packers cap wise the next two years.

On the Steelers side, the trade should help them this year.

[run pMc]

There are 9 Edge players currently listed in the top 50 on nfl mock draft database, Preston turns 32 soon and was in decline. They were going to move on and probably draft a new player.
He was falling down the depth chart and getting Mosby/Cox Jr. some snaps doesn't have much downside. R7 picks aren't worth much more than fliers on guys or as a way to snag a guy who might be a high demand UDFA more cheaply.

If the pass rush suffers even more than it has, we'll know it was a bad trade. I do think Preston will do better as a backup in PIT's 3-4. It's probably a win-win for both teams and the players.

[Joemailman]

Mark Kaboly
@MarkKaboly

Preston Smith said he requested a trade a couple of weeks ago.

Likely just realized he was not a fit in this defense.

[red]

Mark Kaboly
@MarkKaboly

Preston Smith said he requested a trade a couple of weeks ago.

Likely just realized he was not a fit in this defense.

kind of a win win for everyone

[sharpe1027]

Interesting that he wanted a trade. Hopefully it was because he saw the talent behind him and knew he was going to be replaced.