2022 Green Bay Packers Cut ’em or Keep ’em & Prediction: Preston Smith
By Paul Bretl
Predicting what the Green Bay Packers do with Preston Smith
Prediction: Keep him
Edge rusher is such an important position; it’s one of the premier positions in football, and as I mentioned above, if the Green Bay Packers move on from Za’Darius Smith — spoiler alert, I think they will — and Preston Smith, as good as Rashan Gary is, that leaves a massive hole that they’ll be scrambling to fill.
Sure, they could try to address it in free agency, but Green Bay likely won’t find someone of Smith’s caliber. The Packers could also look to the draft, but hoping that the right player is available when they are on the clock is a massive risk–we have no idea how the board is going to fall, and just because you have the best intentions of filling a need, doesn’t mean you are going to. Not to mention that Smith’s veteran experience does matter.
In an article with Packers Wire, salary cap guru Ken Ingalls projects that an extension for Smith, which would add new years on to his contract, would save Green Bay between $6-8 million in cap space this season–keeping one of the most productive edge rushers in football on the roster for the next few seasons, and solidifying one of the most important positions in the game.
I know that the Green Bay Packers find themselves in a cap crunch, but I would rather save $7 million in cap space and have Preston Smith rather than cut him and save $12.5 million.