Being traded in the NFL can be a very good, or very bad thing for players depending on the circumstances. The last thing that most players want it to be traded from a contender to a bottom-feeder team that is struggling to gets any wins. For Preston Smith, there was a sense of relief as he rushed to look up the Pittsburgh Steelers’ record while on the phone learning about his trade.
“It could have been any team, but when it was [the Steelers] it was a relief. While I was on the phone, I was looking up the record, ’cause I don’t keep up with every team’s record. But I seen they record, and I was like, ‘whew,’ ” Smith said in a video posted by Steelers Live on X. “But I was also kind of sad ’cause they were just coming off a bye and I was on a bye, so I had to go back to work. I don’t get no bye no more. But I’m excited to be here, I’m ready to play. I’m ready to ball out.”
He was a member of the 6-3 Green Bay Packers, a team that many think is capable of contending in the NFC with rising star QB Jordan Love. His luck of the draw was pretty good, getting the opportunity to go to a 6-2 team in Pittsburgh. If the Steelers win against the Washington Commanders on Sunday, it will be a flat upgrade over his previous team with a 7-2 record. That would make the Steelers one of the hottest teams in the league.
Smith has three playoff wins in his 10-season NFL career, and there is an increasingly strong chance that he could add to that total this season with the Steelers. Pittsburgh hasn’t won a playoff game since the 2016 playoffs, but this might be the best team the Steeles have had since then when they went to the conference championship against the New England Patriots.
That should help lessen the blow of not having a bye week for Smith. The NFL moved to a 17-game regular-season schedule in 2021. Not that many players have managed to play in 18 regular-season games, but this trade gives Smith (and Mike Williams) a chance to join the 18-game club. Maybe the NFL will ask for their advice as the league continues to push for a further expansion of the regular season.
