How and when will the Packers replace Preston Smith?

Preston Smith is a unique fixture on the Packers’ roster.

Not only is he the oldest player currently under contract (he turns 32 in November), he’s the only player above the age of 29 who figures to start. Kenny Clark and Elgton Jenkins, both currently 28, are the next oldest starters, barely youngsters in the eyes of the team’s elder statesmen.

What’s more, Smith has truly been just what I called him in the first line: a fixture. He’s been in the top five in defensive snaps on the Packers every year but one since he signed in 2019, and he’s the only player on the roster who’s been in the top seven in defensive snaps every one of those years. He’s been a huge part of the Packers’ defensive plans since the moment he arrived, and he figures to be once again this year.

So, how do you replace him? And when?

As great as he’s been since he arrived, time waits for no man in the NFL. Age, the grim reaper of all professional athletes, claims everyone eventually. Even those who retire early do so only to avoid an appointment with their inevitable athletic demise. You simply can’t play forever, and sooner or later, a player’s game will decline.

So it is for Smith, heading into his age-32 season. The rigors of football will eventually be too much, and as such the twin questions of how to replace him and when will be key for Brian Gutekunst and company this year.

Taking the second question first, the “when” seems likely to be next offseason. Smith’s contract is about to become untenable for a player of his age. A cap hit of $14 million for this season is barely palatable as it is, but next spring it jumps to $17.5 million, nudging past $18 million the year after that. You’d be a fool to have an edge rusher on your books for that in his age-33 and 34 seasons, and Brian Gutekunst and Russ Ball are no fools when it comes to making sense of dollars and cents.

Barring an extremely team-friendly contract restructure, then, Smith’s time with the Packers probably comes to an end next spring. What needs to happen to feel good about moving on in the meantime?

As it stands, the Packers are well-positioned to have an ideal post-Smith landing. Lukas Van Ness, the Packers’ 2023 first-round pick, was always going to be part of that conversation, but the Packers’ scheme change this offseason couldn’t have come at a better time. Van Ness spent the earliest portions of his college career primarily as an interior rusher at Iowa before bumping outside later in his tenure there. Even as an edge rusher, Van Ness spent plenty of his time as a hand-down rusher, operating much like the Packers will have him working now in their new 4-3 defense, rather than standing up as a 3-4 edge normally does.

That’s not insignificant. If you’ve got an aging edge rusher you’re going to replace sooner or later anyway, what better way to do that than with a supremely gifted prospect who’s a better fit for what you’re going to be doing on defense anyway? Remember that Smith is a 3-4 lifer at the NFL level. He played in Joe Barry’s (!) 3-4 defense in Washington and did the same under both Mike Pettine and Barry in Green Bay. He’s played basically the same way his entire career. How will that fit in a schematically different environment under Jeff Hafley? Probably just fine in the short term, but it’s not an ideal roster-building move to have someone like Smith, who has thrived playing one style, making a big switch this late in his career, especially when he’s set to count against the cap like he will in 2025 and beyond.

In addition to Van Ness, a good deal of this discussion will involve JJ Enagbare. Entering his third season, Enagbare is a good physical match for Smith and they have similar playing styles. If Engabare is able to build on his first two seasons, it should all but eliminate any need to even enter into salary renegotiation discussions with Smith next spring.

But what if Enagbare struggles? The Packers list of options looks a lot different in that context. They may be looking to do this anyway, but faced with an aging Smith and one of his would-be replacements struggling, the Packers might have no choice but to spend a relatively high draft pick on another edge rusher. That’s rarely a bad idea; it is a premium position, after all. But you’d rather not be forced into a move like that if you can avoid it, and you’d almost certainly like to avoid being forced to the negotiating table with Smith when he holds a lot of the cards.

The question of when and how you move on from Smith is, in all honesty, fairly simple. But the answers are potentially complicated. Fortunately, from a roster building perspective, the Packers have the very best thing you can have, short of an outright solution: options. If nothing else, the Packers will get a good look at Van Ness and Enagbare this season, then decide early next year what the future should look like on the edge in Green Bay.