The Pittsburgh Steelers have made their second trade of the day as they are acquiring EDGE Preston Smith from the Green Bay Packers, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Per Schefter, Pittsburgh is sending a seventh-round pick to Green Bay in exchange for Smith. Matt Schneidman of The Athletic reported that the pick is a 2025 seventh-round selection.
According to Nick Korte of Over The Cap, the Steelers have at least two 2025 seventh-round picks, and it’s currently unknown which pick they traded to the Packers.
The team also traded for WR Mike Williams from the New York Jets earlier today.
While the Steelers have T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith off the EDGE, their depth has been compromised with injuries to Nick Herbig and DeMarvin Leal. Also, OLB Markus Golden retired before the season started, and without Herbig, Jeremiah Moon is Pittsburgh’s No. 3 outside linebacker. While Herbig could return after the bye week, it’s clearly still an area where the Steelers wanted to add additional depth, and they’ll get that by acquiring a veteran in Smith.
Smith had been in his sixth year with the Packers after spending the first four seasons of his career with the Washington Commanders. He’s an accomplished pass rusher with 68.5 career sacks, but he had played just 54% of Green Bay’s snaps on defense this season, registering 19 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Smith is also durable, as he’s missed just one game in his career due to injury, having played in 155 career games with 138 starts. This season, Pro Football Focus has him with a 61.8 overall grade, which ranks 95th out of 192 qualified EDGE rushers.
Smith was a second-round pick by Washington in the 2015 NFL Draft out of Mississippi State and had 24.5 sacks in four seasons with Washington before signing with Green Bay as a free agent. His contract, which he re-negotiated ahead of this season to reduce his 2024 compensation by $2.4 million, per Over The Cap, runs through the 2026 season with a voidable year in 2027.
His best season came in 2019 with the Packers when he logged a career-high 12 sacks. While Smith, who turns 32 later this month, is getting older, he’s still a productive player. He had eight sacks last season and 8.5 in 2022, and he should give the Steelers another threat to get after the quarterback. Acquiring Smith also takes some of the pressure off Watt and Highsmith. His ability to rotate in can help keep them fresh down the stretch, with Pittsburgh having all six of its divisional games in the second half of the season as the team attempts to make a playoff push at 6-2.
UPDATE (4:02 p.m.): The Steelers have officially announced the deal, pending physical.
