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    • The Packers are trading defensive end Preston Smith to the Steelers for a draft pick
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    The Packers are trading defensive end Preston Smith to the Steelers for a draft pick

    Kathleen William Posted on

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    (This story has been updated to add more information.)

    GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Packers are trading veteran defensive end Preston Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a seventh-round draft choice, two sources confirmed to the Journal Sentinel.

    Smith, who was in his sixth season with the Packers and his 10th in the NFL, had seen less playing time over the past two years. He has 19 tackles and 2½ sacks this year.

    He had 44 sacks in his six seasons with the Packers.

    His prorated base salary of $3.2 million and the remaining two years of his contract now belong to the Steelers. The Packers will gain about $2 million in cap money this year, but Smith will factor in $5 million in dead money next year against the Packers' cap through 2025.

    Smith is scheduled to make $12 million in 2025 and $12.6 million in 2026.

    A source said the deal was for a seventh-round draft pick and that the Steelers would receive Smith's remaining base salary of $1.6 million and a roster bonus totaling $423,529 per game. The Packers had traded their own seventh-round pick to the Tennessee Titans for quarterback Malik Willis, so they will only have the Steelers' seventh-round pick next year.

    NFL Network was first to report the trade.

    The Packers paid Smith $1.6 million of his base and $476,471 of the roster before the trade, plus an $8.335 million restructuring bonus in March that allowed the Packers to receive $6.7 million before the start of the season -dollars from their cap to settle.

    The Packers now have between $16 million and $17 million under the cap. You can carry over the space remaining this season to next season.

    Smith played 84% of snaps in 2019, 79.6% in 2020, 64% in '21, 79.9% in 2022, 52.3% in 2023 and played 54.2% this year.

    The Packers have given Kingsley Enagbare and 2023 first-round pick Lukas Van Ness more snaps this year, and it's likely Arron Mosby, who had a half-sack in the Detroit game, and possibly the pro in the second Year, Brenton Cox Jr., will see more time.

    The Packers didn't get nearly what they needed from Van Ness despite being the 13th pick in the draft last year. He has just one sack, four pressures and two quarterback hits in 233 snaps this season.

    He ranks 12th on the team with 19 total tackles, including two for loss.

    Enagbare could start in place of Smith. He has played 243 snaps and has 19 tackles, 1½ sacks, six pressures and two forced fumbles.

    Mosby played 22 snaps on defense and had one half-sack. Cox was inactive in all nine games.

    Overall, the Packers rank 14th in the NFL in sacks per pass. Defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt leads the team with three sacks and Rashan Gary, linebacker Edgerrin Coooper and Smith are tied for second with 2½ each.

    Smith, who turns 32 this month, has been a mainstay in the Packers' defense since signing a four-year, $52 million contract as a free agent with the Packers in 2019. He missed just one game in six seasons and had fewer than eight sacks just once this season.

    After an 8½-sack season in 2021, he restructured his contract in March 2022, extending it to four years with a total salary of $53.5 million, including a $12 million signing bonus.

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    Kathleen William
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