Preston Smith will be back for a third Packers season. The sides agreed on a reworked deal Friday, according to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (on Twitter).
The veteran edge rusher will now be attached to a $1MM base salary in 2021, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, adding that much of Smith’s 2021 money will be converted into a signing bonus. That will cover $6.5MM, with Rapoport adding that there will be $4.4MM available via sack-based incentives.
As for the sack thresholds, Rapoport tweets Smith will need to reach six to trigger the minimum escalator ($500K). There are $750K bumps at the eight- and 10-sack marks, with the $1MM-plus incentives tied to 12 and 14 sacks. Smith has only eclipsed eight sacks once in six seasons.
Friday’s changes will reduce Smith’s cap number — previously at $16MM for ’21 — considerably while slashing his earnings somewhat. But the six-year veteran previously loomed as a cap-casualty candidate. The Packers will save $7.25MM by reworking Smith’s deal, per the Green Bay Press-Gazette’s Pete Dougherty (on Twitter); they would have saved $8MM by cutting Smith.
One of the Packers’ two big-ticket 2019 edge signees, Smith took a step back last season. After registering 12 sacks in his first Packers slate, the ex-Washington linebacker ended the 2020 campaign with just four sacks and 11 QB hits. He also lost his starting spot to Rashan Gary for a time. But Gary and both Smiths — Preston and Za’Darius — are due back for a third season together.
Good move by the Packers since cutting him would’ve left them shorthanded at OLB on the depth chart.
What are the new cap numbers for this year and 2022?
His cap number is roughly $8.5MM in 2021 and adds $3.25MM to his 2022 cap hit.
Good move, I agree. If he gets back to for under the new DC, than its a good move.