Could Preston Smith Be Dealt at NFL Trade Deadline?

With the Green Bay Packers scuffling along at 2-4, they’re much more likely to be sellers than buyers at Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline.

Sports Illustrated’s Gilberto Manzano and Matt Verderame recently selected one player for each team who could be either traded or acquired at the deadline. For the Packers, they picked outside linebacker Preston Smith.

It was a logical selection, and one also chosen by Packers beat writer Matt Schneidman in a similar piece for The Athletic.

There are several reasons why a Smith trade could make sense.

- As a veteran pass rusher and quality run defender, there’s no doubt Smith could help a contending team.

- The Packers have young depth at the position that needs to play. With Rashan Gary leading the way, the Packers could give valuable playing time to first-round pick Lukas Van Ness, second-year player Kingsley Enagbare and undrafted free agent Brenton Cox. The Packers need to accelerate Van Ness’ learning curve, and they need to find out if Enagbare and Cox are building-block players.

- If the season were over today, the Packers would have the seventh pick of the 2024 NFL Draft. With their own picks in the first three rounds and the second-rounder from the Jets in the Aaron Rodgers trade, the Packers are in line to have four of the top 71 picks. Smith wouldn’t net a premium draft pick but the more the merrier given the number of holes on the roster.

- Finally, the Packers could move Smith as a favor to a quality player, leader and teammate. Smith will turn 31 on Nov. 17. He’s not getting any younger. After the team’s playoff failures in 2019, 2020 and 2021, giving him a chance to win this year would be a win-win.

Other than general manager Brian Gutekunst’s annual wheeling and dealing up and down the board during the NFL Draft or the days around roster cuts, the Packers have rarely made in-season trades.

The last time the Packers made a trade in October was sending safety HaHa Clinton-Dix to Washington for a fourth-round pick and running back Ty Montgomery to Baltimore for a seventh-round pick in 2018.

The last time the Packers acquired a player around the trade deadline was safety Anthony Smith from the Jaguars for a conditional draft pick in 2010.