Packers GM Brian Gutekunst explains Preston Smith trade: 'I really like our depth'

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Preston Smith ranked second among Packers defensive ends through the first nine games in percentage of defensive snaps played (54.23). Before Tuesday’s trade deadline, general manager Brian Gutekunst dealt Smith to the Steelers for a 2025 seventh-round pick without adding any defensive ends to replace the 31-year-old.

The Packers regularly rotated four defensive ends this season — Rashan Gary, Smith, Kingsley Enagbare and Lukas Van Ness — but now only have three experienced players at the position. Even Van Ness, who ranked fourth among the group in playing time for the season, played more than 41 percent of the defensive snaps through the first nine games.

The Packers’ other defensive ends on the 53-man roster are Arron Mosby, who has played seven total defensive snaps this season, and Brenton Cox Jr., who has been inactive every game. So what happens now on a pass-rushing unit that has been inconsistent this season, ranking 14th in sack rate and 19th in pressure rate, according to TruMedia?

“Whenever you move off a player like Preston Smith, you’re a couple injuries away from, ‘Man, that may not have been the best thing,’” Gutekunst said Tuesday. “But at the same time, I really do like our depth … I think allowing these two guys (Mosby and Cox) to get on the field a little bit and maybe some snaps to go to some other guys, too, I think, will help us.”

GOT TO ‘EM!#DETvsGB pic.twitter.com/QdeN6Ec30Q

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) November 3, 2024

Mosby and Cox’s inexperience would be the reason not to make the trade. The reason to make it? Smith was a cut candidate next offseason at age 32 and trading him now has financial benefits in the future. According to Packers cap expert Ken Ingalls, the move frees up about $2 million in cap space this year, about $7.6 million next year, about $18.2 million in 2026 and about $1.7 million in 2027.

Smith has always been durable, remarkably missing only one game in 10 years in the league. Through his first five seasons in Green Bay after signing as a big-money free agent in 2019, Smith amassed 41 1/2 sacks, more than eight per season. This season, however, he had only 2 1/2 through the first nine games and ranked 143rd in pressure rate among players with at least 100 pass-rush snaps, per TruMedia.

“There’s some players we want to see. I think that the trend of how the snaps were going was only going to continue that way,” Gutekunst said, referring to Smith’s two lowest defensive snap-count percentages coming in the last three games. “I think again, it wasn’t something that we set out to do. It wasn’t something that we called a bunch of teams saying, ‘Hey, are you interested in Preston Smith?’ because we know his value. But when the opportunity came and we got the phone call, we just thought it made sense for us for what we’re trying to do.”

Does Love hurt … or help?

It’s no secret that Jordan Love hasn’t been the same quarterback as the second half of last season.

Love threw 18 touchdown passes and one interception in the final eight regular-season games of his debut starting season. That was MVP-caliber play. It would be understandable if his first half in 2024 were a tick below that. It’s also been below that, however, sometimes discernibly. Love has thrown 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in the six and a half games he’s played, missing two and a half with knee and groin injuries.

Head coach Matt LaFleur said after Sunday’s loss to the Lions that he’s pleased with Love’s process, but the results aren’t always there. Similarly, Gutekunst seems more than happy with the early returns on his $220 million offseason investment.

“I think he’s played very well,” Gutekunst said, adding, “There’s some that I’m sure he would like back and I’m sure our team would like back, as well, but again, when you’re able to make plays like he does, I think there’s a bit of a fine line where you’re feeling it out. He’s still a very young player from the amount of times he’s started. I’ve always thought it’s about 20 to 26 games before guys really settle into what they’re doing and I think he’s a little bit in that time right now, as well.

“My expectations are, for him, are probably what they are for all players, right, to keep working and putting team first,” Gutekunst said. “He leads our team exactly how we want him to lead our football team. Obviously, you guys have seen his ability to make plays and be a difference-maker in this league. He’s meeting all my expectations.”

To add or not to add?

That wasn’t much of a question.

“These things start four, five, six weeks before now and so as we went through it, I kind of assumed that it was going to be very quiet and it very much was this year,” Gutekunst said of the trade deadline. “I think those initial conversations, they can change, but as we monitored going through it, I think it was kind of pretty steady that it was going to be quiet. Acquiring any significant players, there wasn’t going to be a lot of opportunity to do that.

“It’s not a store you can go in and pick and choose. Those guys have got to be available and there just wasn’t a ton available this year. We always look at a lot of things, have some conversations, talk to people, but not a lot materialized this year.”

The Packers’ two biggest areas of need, at least from outside the walls of 1265 Lombardi Ave., were defensive end and cornerback.

The biggest move of deadline day was four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore going from the Saints to the Commanders along with a fifth-round pick in exchange for a third-, fourth- and sixth-round pick.

Green Bay has All-Pro-caliber Jaire Alexander (when healthy), and Gutekunst doesn’t seem to agree that the Packers’ cornerback play behind Alexander is lacking.

“Those guys have done a great job this year,” Gutekunst said of the cornerback group. “Bull (Javon Bullard), for a rookie, he’s just done an excellent job when he’s put in the nickel. The ability for him to play safety and nickel and what’s put on that guy for a young player, to do what he’s done, is really exciting what he’s done already, where he’s about to go. So that’s been good for us. Again, Keisean (Nixon) hasn’t played a ton of outside corner for us and he was kind of put in that position and I think he’s done a really good job for us. He’s got excellent instincts, he can take the ball away, so yeah, I’m really happy with him out there, as well.”

“I played eighteen years in Green Bay and I know how teams feel about draft picks 😂😂

They’ve made some great picks over the years..

There were a couple times where maybe bringing in one more guy by trade could’ve been worth it”@AaronRodgers12 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/gBYTH9gl0V

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 5, 2024

Magic Malik

One of the moves of the NFL season has to be the Packers trading a seventh-round pick for then-Titans third-string quarterback Malik Willis before roster cutdown day.

He’s commanded the Packers’ offense exceptionally in three games, all of which the Packers won, displaying the talent we knew he had with his legs and perhaps even more talent than we knew he had with his arm. Kudos go to Willis, first and foremost, but also the Packers’ front office for identifying a talent worth developing (they didn’t have much time to develop him before his first start) and the coaching staff and players for bringing him along quickly.

If the Packers win the Super Bowl this season, the story of doing so will be impossible to write without their backup quarterback if what he’s done already is all he does this season.

“Certainly, we weren’t expecting him to get pressed into duty as quickly as he did,” Gutekunst said. “You really gotta credit Malik and our coaching staff for what a great job that they did getting him ready, putting a game plan around him that really suited him. I’m just really proud of him. Obviously, we knew the player. We knew the skill set and we really liked that part of it, the ability to win with his arm and his legs. The neat thing for me is getting to know him. He’s a great kid and really fits, I think, what we want here. That’s been really positive because that’s part of what you never really know, right? When they’ve been somewhere else and they’re coming in the building — same with Josh (Jacobs) and Xavier (McKinney) — there’s certain things you don’t know until they get into your environment and how they fit in. He’s done a really nice job of that. I think he’s a really positive influence in that room.”