The Green Bay Packers are poised to be one of several contenders in the NFC this season. After Jordan Love and the NFL’s youngest offense shocked many in the national media (and perhaps more than a few of their own fans) by finishing 9-8 and upsetting the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card round of the NFL Playoffs, many expect them to take a leap in their second season of all playing together.
The defense, too, is expected to be much better in 2024 than it was last season. Joe Barry was fired after three disappointing and underwhelming seasons. With eight former first round picks on that side of the ball, the Green Bay defense should be one of the best in the league. That is the goal of new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, who is switching the scheme from a 3-4 to a 4-3.
This schematic change will mean that players previously listed as outside linebackers will now be lining up on the line. Preston Smith, Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness, and Kingsley Enagbare all stand to have much more success playing in a system that suits their style instead of trying to fit into whatever Barry was trying to do.
NFL Analyst Believes the Green Bay Packers Should Trade Preston Smith
Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
For the reasons listed above, it was shocking to see that one NFL analyst, Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report, believes that Green Bay would be better off trading Smith for future draft picks than keeping him in 2024.
He writes:
“…finding a buyer for Preston Smith would be shocking, but still in line with the Packers philosophy.
“The 31-year-old played in every regular season game over the last two seasons so he doesn’t have any glaring health concerns. However, he’s set to make cap hist of $14.1, $17.5 and $18.2 million over the next three years.
“A post-June 1 trade would enable the Packers to save $4.6 million against the cap this year with additional cap savings in the following seasons.
“Trading Smith isn’t a dire need, but it might turn out to be financially prudent. Smith’s stock should be pretty high given his production and health over the last few seasons, but one injury or disappointing season at this age would plummet his value.
“This might be the best opportunity to sell high on the veteran pass rusher and they have last year’s first-round pick Lukas Van Ness waiting in the wings.”
There’s just one thing wrong with Ballentine’s suggestion, though: recent offseason transactions would suggest trading Smith now would not be in line with the Packers philosophy.
The Green Bay Packers Will Not Trade Preston Smith
As reported earlier this offseason, Smith has already taken a pay cut in 2024 so that he can stay with Green Bay. This agreement between Green Bay and the pass rusher with the 12th most sacks in franchise history has already saved the Packers $2.4 million in salary cap space this year. If the front office wanted more space, they would have made it happen already.
Furthermore, the pass rushing/defensive end position was one that Green Bay decided not to address in the offseason. They are perfectly happy with their four top players at the position, and trading one away will only hurt their depth at the position.
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