Green Bay Packers: Preston Smith Reportedly “Floated” in Trade Talks
By Paul Bretl
One of the hot topics of conversation this offseason surrounds Preston Smith and his future with the Green Bay Packers.
Currently, the Packers find themselves $11.5 million over the projected salary cap but can create $8 million in cap space for 2021 by moving on from Smith—a move that many anticipated.
However, Brian Gutekunst’s recent comments cast doubt on this as he told reporters that he “expects” Smith to be back in 2021.
Was this Gutey just saying what he felt he had to say as Green Bay goes through the various options that they have with Smith? Or will he, in fact, be back?
If the latter is the case, then the Green Bay Packers have three options. They can let him play on his current deal, but that comes with a cap hit of $16 million—an absorbent amount for someone who saw his sack total drop from 12 to four and his total pressures plummet from 62 in 2019 to just 29 this past season.
Another option is to restructure his deal by taking a portion of his base salary and/or roster bonus, converting it to a signing bonus, and moving the cap hit into 2022—effectively lowering the cap hit in 2021.
That sounds great and all, but with 2022 being the final year of Smith’s deal, any cap space saved in 2021 has to be recognized next season where his cap hit already sits at $16.5 million. Again, not ideal.
Green Bay could also approach Smith about taking a pay cut, but whether he would accept that or not is unknown. Smith could turn it down and become a free agent if the Packers were to then cut him; however, doing so comes with some risk to Smith since we don’t exactly know what to expect from the free-agent market this year given the salary cap crunch.
These three scenarios, along with cutting Smith, seemed to be the most likely options for the Green Bay Packers. That is unless they could somehow work out a trade, which Albert Breer of The Monday Morning Quarterback suggests is a possibility as he named Smith as one of several veterans whose name has come up in trade discussions among football circles.
Obviously, this is a better alternative than just cutting him since Green Bay will get something in return, but is it realistic?
Ultimately we never truly know, and as Breer points out, Smith could provide another team with a short-term solution at edge rusher. But Smith’s contract is a major hurdle to overcome. As I mentioned, his cap hit in 2021 is $16 million, and in 2022 it’s $16.5 million. Not to mention that there is no guarantee that he regains his 2019 form.
This is a new wrinkle added to the Preston Smith dilemma, but it’s also an avenue that seems unlikely given his contract, recent play, and the expectation that the free-agent market is going to be flooded with veteran options who will likely command a smaller contract.
Free agency opens next week, and the Green Bay Packers have to be under the salary cap by then. So whether it’s Smith or any one of a number of other moves, I’d expect some activity this week.