Packers: Preston Smith Nearing Incentive Based Sack Bonuses

After what was a down 2020 season where Preston Smith saw his sack total drop from 15 in 2019 to only five and his pressure total fall from 62 to 29, many assumed that the Green Bay Packers were going to move on from Smith this past offseason in favor of cap savings.

However, as we all know, that wasn’t the case. Instead, Smith took an incentive-laden pay cut to stay with the Green Bay Packers for the 2021 season.

With the restructure, Smith’s salary cap hit this season went from $16 million down to just $8.75 million–although his dead cap hit in 2022 would increase to $7.25 million, according to Over the Cap. But if with the pay cut, Smith has the opportunity to earn a good portion of those lost dollars back by logging sacks and earning bonuses.

Although his sack numbers are far from gaudy this season, Smith has been having that bounce-back year that we had all hoped for. He already has 31 pressures this season after posting 29 all of last season, including a whopping 16 over the last two games, according to PFF ($$).

Smith also ranks 38th out of all edge rushers in PFF’s pass-rush productive metric — and efficiency measurement — after ranking 108th a year ago, and his overall run defense grade is the 17th best among edge rushers.

While sacks get much of the attention, and certainly Smith wants as many as possible with the financial benefits tied to his final sack total, as OLB coach Mike Smith is happy to point out, sacks are great but he will take consistent pressure every time.

"“I care about pressure, affecting the quarterback, that’s the No. 1 thing. I’ll take a guy that does his job play after play after play after play, being consistent and have zero sacks, but does his job and affects the quarterback,” Smith said via Packers Wire. “If you got a room that believes the only way to get a pressure is to get a sack, you’re going to have a very disappointing room in the NFL. These (blockers) are good. I could care less about the sack stuff.”"

If you pressure the quarterback consistently enough, eventually the sacks will follow, and that is what is happening for Smith. He now has five sacks on the season and three of them have come in the last two weeks.

Smith is now just one sack away from his first bonus tier. Six sacks this season will earn him $500,000. If he reaches eight sacks, that’s an additional $750,000. At 10 sacks, it is another $750,000, and 12 sacks will earn him another $1.2 million. If Smith can reach 14 total sacks over these final six games, he would land an additional $1.2 million on top of everything else that he’s earned.

In total, that’s an additional $4.4 million that Smith can earn on top of his base salary and prorated bonus that equals $8.25 million.

Regardless of how many sacks Smith ends up tallying, he is playing at a much higher level in 2021 against both the run and the pass–a welcomed sight for this Green Bay Packers defense. And now that he has logged five sacks, he is on the verge of being financially rewarded for his improved play.

"“I’m really proud of Preston,” Aaron Rodgers said via Packers.com. “Preston’s come in after taking a pay cut and been a great teammate, a great leader, he’s practiced really well. … The way that he’s played and battled and led.”"