Tag: Preston Smith

2 new Steelers show off new jersey numbers at practice

Mike Williams and Preston Smith had their first practice with the Steelers on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers got to work in preparation to take on the Washington Commanders. And they did it with the team’s two newest members on the field.

Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers pulled off a pair of trades. The Steelers worked a deal with the New York Jets for wide receiver Mike Williams. They also made a trade with the Green Bay Packers to land outside linebacker Preston Smith. Both guys were on the practice field and showing off their new jersey numbers at practice.

 

Williams will wear No. 18, the same number he wore with the Jets. Williams started his career with the Los Angeles Chargers and wore No. 81 but that number was already taken by tight end MyCole Pruitt.

Smith will wear No. 91. This is the same number he has worn throughout his career.

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Former Packers edge rusher Preston Smith reveals he requested trade

Preston Smith said he requested a trade and wanted to go back to the 3-4 defense before the Packers dealt him to the Steelers.

Before Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline, the Green Bay Packers made a deal, sending veteran edge rusher Preston Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for a 2025 seventh-round pick. The move gained clarity after Smith revealed he had requested a trade weeks ago, citing his desire to return to a 3-4 defense.

“It’s just what I’ve been playing in the last nine years of my career until this last season,” Smith said in his first media appearance in Pittsburgh. “It’s what I feel comfortable playing in, what I got used to playing in. Just being back in the system is like riding your favorite bike again.”

Smith, who arrived in Green Bay as a free agent in 2019, spent his first five seasons in a 3-4 defense under Mike Pettine and Joe Barry. During that span, Smith totaled 41.5 sacks, including a 12-sack season in Year 1. However, after multiple years of the defense falling short of expectations, head coach Matt LaFleur decided to switch to a 4-3 with the hiring of Jeff Hafley. Through the first nine games of the regular season, Smith struggled to make much of an impact, logging just 2.5 sacks and 10 pressures.

As a result of his declining numbers, Smith’s role on defense began to diminish. In Sunday’s loss to the Detroit Lions, he logged just 21 defensive snaps, his lowest total in a game where he did not get hurt since his rookie season.

Now, Smith is eager to contribute to a Steelers team currently sitting in first place in the AFC North with a 6-2 record. The soon-to-be 32-year-old veteran said he plans to play in Sunday’s game against the Washington Commanders.

Meanwhile, the Packers will turn to Lukas Van Ness, Kingsley Enagbare, Arron Mosby, and Brenton Cox Jr. to help fill the void left behind by Smith. Even though the move could come back to bite them if guys get injured, general manager Brian Gutekunst said he is excited to see what the team can achieve during the second half of the season.

“Whenever you move off a player like Preston Smith, you’re a couple injuries away from, ‘Man, that may not have been the best thing,’” said Gutekunst. “But, at the same time, I really do like our depth. We’ve got to continue to come together as a football team and play better football at times, but we’re 6-3, I think we’re in a good spot. I’m excited about the second half of the season and to see how these guys grow together.”

Steelers add massive NT from Bengals

The Steelers got some help at defensive tackle with the addition of Domenique Davis.

Lost in the pair of trades the Pittsburgh Steelers made on Tuesday was the sneaky addition of defensive tackle Domenique Davis to the team’s practice squad.

Davis is a 6-foot-2, 326-pound defensive tackle from Division II UNC-Pembroke. The addition makes sense for a Steelers team with only five defensive linemen currently on the roster. Pittsburgh recently placed backup nose tackle Montravius Adams on IR leaving them without a backup and leaving the Steelers exposed in their run defense.

No one is saying Davis is going to suddenly resurrect his career with Pittsurgh but his body type fits what the Steelers are looking for and he should have ample opportunity to earn reps.

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Best-case scenario for the 2 newest members of the Steelers

The Steelers traded for Preston Smith and Mike Williams on Tuesday.

Pittsburgh Steelers General Manager Omar Khan was a busy guy on Tuesday ahead of the NFL trade deadline. Khan pulled off two trades bringing in wide receiver Mike Williams and outside linebacker Preston Smith. Based on the compensation and salary cap information, these were trades that improved the roster without a huge investment.

This week the Steelers go on the road to take on the Washington Commanders and while we don’t expect a huge impact from Williams or Smith on Sunday, here is what we consider the best-case scenario for both players as the season goes on.

For Williams, his ability to win contested catches and work deep fits perfectly with what the Steelers are doing on offense with Russell Wilson at quarterback. He and George Pickens can become a dynamic duo downfield and really free up the run game while added more explosive plays in the passing game.

As for Smith, he’s more about depth. We expect Williams to eventually be the team’s No. 2 wide receiver on the outside but Smith is in line to be a very highly paid No. 4 edge rusher. We are hopeful this doesn’t become a Melvin Ingram situation and Smith is OK with a limited role behind Either T.J. Watt or Alex Highsmith. Until Nick Herbig is 100 percent, Smith could see a larger role so he might be pressed into service quicker than Williams.

Overall, we expect both of these players to improve this team. We give both of these trades and can’t wait to see what they bring once they are up to speed in the system.

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Steelers have toughest remaining Week 10-18 schedule, per PFF

According to Pro Football Focus, the Pittsburgh Steelers have the toughest remaining schedule in the NFL from Weeks 10 to 18.

After acquiring WR Mike Williams from the New York Jets and OLB Preston Smith from the Green Bay Packers at the trade deadline, the Pittsburgh Steelers quickly shift their focus back onto their postseason aspirations.  Pittsburgh needed all the help it could get, however, as the team heads into what is shaping up to be an extremely difficult second half of the 2024 season.

Most Pittsburgh fans would shudder at the idea of hearing that their team would need to go head-to-head with what seems like five playoff contenders in nine weeks, and it appears the infamous and always polarizing Pro Football Focus would agree with them.

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PFF is correct in their assessment, as with nine tough matchups remaining, the Steelers will face the 7-2 Washington Commanders, the 6-3 Baltimore Ravens twice, the 4-5 Cincinnati Bengals twice, the 2-7 Cleveland Browns twice, the 6-2 Philadelphia Eagles, and the undefeated 8-0 Kansas City Chiefs.

Can the newly upgraded Pittsburgh Steelers succeed in taking on this seemingly impossible second half gauntlet, or will the team come crashing back down to reality after an impressive first half start to the 2024 season?

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Steelers fans react to OLB Preston Smith trade

Former Packers’ OLB Preston Smith’s unexpected trade to the Steelers adds valuable depth to the defense, and was surprising to fans alike.

One of the most underrated acquisitions at the 2024 NFL trade deadline was OLB Preston Smith being traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers. It had been reported in recent days that while wide receiver was a major area of concern for the Steel City, the team could prioritize trading for edge rusher depth.

Much to the surprise of absolutely no one, the team did, in fact, acquire a wide receiver at the deadline, Mike Williams from the New York Jets, but also acquired defensive depth from the Green Bay Packers in the 31-year-old Smith, who should plug in nicely behind outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.

While fans of the Black and Gold have been clamoring for their team to make a WR trade for months, Smith was a welcomed surprise. Here are some of the best reactions to Pittsburgh trading a 2025 seventh-round draft pick for the Green Bay Packers’ OLB Preston Smith.

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Steelers announce multiple roster moves after trade deadline

The Steelers released tight end Rodney Williams and waived two from the practice squad on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers were buyers ahead of the NFL trade deadline. Pittsburgh pulled on a pair of significant trades acquiring wide receiver Mike Williams and edge defender Preston Smith.

To make room on the roster, the Steelers released tight end Rodney Williams from the active roster. The team also waived wide receiver Andy Isabella and linebacker Craig Young from the practice squad.

We would assume that if he clears waivers, the Steelers will bring Williams back to one of those new openings on the practice squad.

The Steelers take on the Washington Commanders this week on the road.

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Packers end up as sellers, not buyers, at NFL’s trade deadline

The Packers made only one trade at Tuesday’s deadline, sending DE Preston Smith to the Steelers for a late-round pick in next year’s draft.

The Green Bay Packers are 6-3 entering the bye week and a legitimate playoff contender in the NFC at the midway point of the 2024 season.

At Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline, the Packers were sellers, not buyers.

General manager Brian Gutekunst made one trade, sending veteran edge rusher Preston Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft, which recouped the draft capital lost in the team’s trade for backup quarterback Malik Willis before the regular season.

Some outsiders saw edge rusher as an area where the Packers needed to add before the deadline. Instead, Gutekunst sold off an aging, expensive and mostly unproductive part from the pass-rushing equation.

Smith turns 32 in November, has only 10 pressures in nine games and was unlikely to be in Green Bay past the 2024 season. His transition from 3-4 outside linebacker to 4-3 defensive end wasn’t translating into production — a problem many of the pass-rushers in Green Bay are working through. The trade creates valuable cap space in the short-term and long-term, while also opening up snaps for younger players at edge rusher such as Lukas Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare.

The Packers have emphasized creating opportunities for young players to get on the field in big roles. That has meant moving on from older, experienced players and taking a risk on young, inexperienced talent. This appears to be another case of the Packers opening the door to the youth on the roster.

Van Ness, a 2023 first-round pick, stands to benefit the most. He is suddenly a very important player for the Packers, who have Super Bowl aspirations but can’t be considered a true title contender without more consistency from the pass-rush up front on defense.

Last year, the Packers were 3-6 and sellers, sending cornerback Rasul Douglas to the Buffalo Bills. This year, the Packers have a 6-3 mark but remained sellers — suggesting Gutekunst found more team-building value in selling off an asset than buying one.

There’s a compelling case to make on the Packers’ need for help at edge rusher or cornerback, even as the defense has made progress under first-year coordinator Jeff Hafley. But the Packers rarely make trade deadline deals, likely as a result of never wanting to risk overpaying — especially for what could be a rental player – and so Gutekunst ended up being a seller once again.

Losing Smith isn’t likely to prevent the Packers from competing for a title. But will not adding a piece at the deadline allow any of the potentially fatal flaws of the Packers roster to be exposed come January? Time will tell. Like last year, the Packers will need internal improvement from a young but talented roster to turn Matt LaFleur’s team from a good one to a great one over the second half of the 2024 season.

Trade Deadline: Grading the Steelers acquisition of OLB Preston Smith

Steelers trade a 2025 7th-round pick for Preston Smith, adding veteran power to their defense. How does this move grade out?

Teams throughout the NFL better watch out; there’s a new terrifying trio of edge rushers coming to sack their quarterback. Steelers’ outside linebackers T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and the newly acquired Preston Smith form arguably the greatest edge-rushing unit in the NFL today.

Smith was recently acquired at the 2024 NFL trade deadline when the Pittsburgh Steelers traded a 2025 seventh-round draft pick to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for his talents in the Steel City.

Pittsburgh General Manager Omar Khan had recently helped facilitate a trade to acquire WR Mike Williams from the New York Jets, which received a solid B grade here at Steelers Wire. But what about the acquisition of Smith?

The 31-year-old former Packers OLB provides quality starting experience behind Watt and Highsmith, as Smith has started 138 games since entering the league in 2015. Smith has accumulated 68.5 sacks over this period and comes to Pittsburgh in what can only be described as a bargain sale in Green Bay.

For only a 2025 seventh-round draft pick given up for Smith, Khan and the Steelers’ front office receive an A+ grade for the trade.

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Breaking down Packers’ trade of Preston Smith to Steelers

A breakdown from both sides of the Packers’ trade of Preston Smith to the Steelers.

The Green Bay Packers are trading veteran edge rusher Preston Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a seventh-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft, according to multiple reports. The deadline deal sends an experienced pass-rusher from Green Bay to Pittsburgh while allowing the Packers — a contender in the NFC — to recoup the draft capital used to acquire quarterback Malik Willis and make changes in playing time at defensive end over the second half of 2024.

What does the deal mean for the Packers and Steelers?

Here’s a quick breakdown of the trade from both sides:

Why trade makes sense for Packers

Packers Wire: While a respected locker room leader and a capable player at a key position, Smith checked a lot of boxes as a trade candidate, even for a contending team like the Packers. Smith turns 32 later this month. He has only 10 pressures and 2.5 sacks in nine games this season. He played only 21 snaps — including five pass-rushing snaps — last week. He was taking up snaps that could go to developing younger players such as 2023 first-round pick Lukas Van Ness and third-year veteran Kingsley Enagbare. He is not expected to be around in 2025 and isn’t a fit financially past this season. Add it all up, and the Packers might feel fortunate to get a seventh-round pick at the deadline. Experienced as a standout outside linebacker in the 3-4, Smith wasn’t nearly as productive as a 4-3 defensive end to start this season. He’ll get a chance to return to the 3-4 in Pittsburgh. The Packers are certainly taking a risk by trading away a veteran at a premium position, especially considering the lacking production of the position group overall. There’s no guarantee Van Ness or Enagbare (or even Arron Mosby or Brenton Cox Jr.) will be productive or reliable players opposite Rashan Gary, and the Packers need more from their pass-rushing front, not less. Van Ness just became a very important player for the Packers in 2024. Can he start showing signs of a breakout? He’s been concerningly quiet through nine games of his second season.

Why trade makes sense for Steelers

Curt Popejoy, Steelers Wire: The Steelers love guys like Preston Smith. High-character football players who play with high effort and can do a little big of everything. His size and play style works well for a team always looking for ends who can set the edge and defend the run. He is an ideal rotational guy as an edge rusher. This is especially true with the team working to get Nick Herbig back into the lineup. This is a great low risk, high reward move that should really solidify the defensive front.