GREEN BAY, Wisconsin – With less than two hours left before Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline, the Green Bay Packers have traded linebacker Preston Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers, a source told Packers On SI on Tuesday.

According to reports, the Packers received a seventh-round pick in return.

Will the Packers make a new move to what they believe is a championship-caliber roster? Or will the Packers become sellers again, like they did last year, when they sent cornerback Rasul Douglas to the Buffalo Bills at the deadline?

This is a win-win trade. Smith wanted more playing time. Instead he received less; This season he was gradually pushed into the background.

Smith played 54 snaps (71.1 percent playing time) against the Eagles in Week 1. However, he played a season-low 28 snaps (43.8 percent) against the Texans in Week 7. He then played a season-low 21 snaps (a season-low 36.8 percent) in Sunday’s loss against the Lions.

He played 54 percent of defensive snaps during the season; That’s down sharply from 66 percent last year, 80 percent in 2022 and a career-high 84 percent in 2019, when he signed in free agency.

Smith was heading towards perhaps the quietest season of his career. There are 2.5 sacks; 2.0 sacks in Week 3 against Tennessee and half a sack in Week 5 against the Rams. However, he has zero sacks in the last four games. In fact, he had zero sacks, zero tackles for loss, and a quarterback loss, according to official statistics, and two total pressures during that span, according to Pro Football Focus.

Unless another move comes before the 3 p.m. deadline, the Packers will make the playoffs with a four-man rotation of Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness, Kingsley Enagbare and Arron Mosby.

While Smith isn’t very good, Green Bay’s defense isn’t good either.

Gary has 2.5 sacks. One of them, in Week 1 against the Eagles, was when he made an ill-timed snap past an unsuspecting right tackle. One of those came in Week 7 against Houston when the right tackle tripped. Half a sack arrived last week. He has a team-high eight quarterback hits.

Last year’s first-round pick, Van Ness, has a sack and two quarterback hits.

Enagbare has 1.5 sacks, three quarterback hits and two forced fumbles.

Beyond the basic numbers, there are 90 edge defenders with at least 100 passing opportunities. According to PFF’s pass-rush win rate, Smith ranked 67th. Gary is ranked 60th, Enagbare is 78th and Van Ness is 80th.

According to PFF, Gary has 20 pressures. That ranks 38th among edge defenders and 28th behind Minnesota’s Jonathan Greenard, who has an NFL-best 48. Smith and Enagbare have 10 points, while Van Ness has six.

If Mosby is next, he got his first defensive snaps of the season against Detroit and shared the sack with Gary.

Smith, who will turn 32 on Nov. 17, was the second-oldest player on the roster behind kicker Brandon McManus.

He had 44 sacks in his five-and-a-half seasons in Green Bay.

“Preston represents a lot of things that we really value,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said during training camp. “I think he’s missed one in 155 games. The attitude he brings to practice every day, the leadership he shows to our players and the guy can still really play.

“He’s been there every day since we acquired him in the 2019 free agency class, and he’s still a tough guy to handle in those tackles. He’s an important part of our football team.”

Interestingly, the Packers signed Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith in free agency in 2019. On Tuesday, Za’Darius Smith was traded to the Lions as a key piece to a potential Super Bowl run.

Barring another move, the Packers have eight picks for the 2025 NFL Draft; one in each of the first six rounds and two in the seventh.

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