Packers GM Brian Gutekunst ‘excited’ to see young pass rushers get more reps after Preston Smith trade Nov 06, 2024

The Green Bay Packers traded away veteran pass rusher Preston Smith on Tuesday, highlighting their intent to go young on the edge down the stretch.

The move opens the door for more snaps for former first-round pick Lukas Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare alongside Rashan Gary. The club also hopes to get more from Arron Mosby and Brenton Cox.

“We’re excited to see both of those guys, see some more snaps,” Gutekunst said of Mosby and Cox on Tuesday, via the team’s official website. “I think certainly they’ve earned it. I thought they did a really nice job in training camp, and they’ve continued that through practice.

“Allowing these two guys to get on the field a little bit and maybe some snaps to go to some other guys, too, I think will help us.”

Deleting a pass rusher from the equation turned some heads outside of Green Bay, but it shouldn’t be a surprise. Smith didn’t author the same pop he’d had in previous seasons. He’s struggled to consistently generate pressure, netting a 7.1 QB pressure rate on 156 pass rush snaps in 2024, per Next Gen Stats. The Packers already began curtailing his snaps in Week 9, where he saw just 21.

Smith was a cut candidate in the offseason as a questionable fit in the new defensive scheme under coordinator Jeff Hafley. The Packers were almost certainly not picking up the final year of his contract at a $14.1 million cap figure in 2025. Moving on might not have netted much — a seventh-rounder — but it’s better than what they were in line to get — zilch.

In moving on from Smith now, Green Bay is counting on increased snaps from Van Ness and the other youngsters to have a positive overall effect on the defense.

“From that entire group, we need more from those guys as we move forward into the second half of the season, and I think we’ll get that,” Gutekunst said. “I like the way they work. They’ve got to continue to keep pushing.”

On a bye in Week 10, the young group will attempt their first breakout of the season in Week 11 against the Chicago Bears.