Tag: Preston Smith

A productive season finale in Detroit would be lucrative for Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Preston Smith.

The restructured contract Smith agreed to in March could pay off in a big way to end the 2021 regular season.

The veteran pass-rusher sits at 9.0 sacks entering Week 18. With one more sack, Smith would get to 10 sacks and earn another $750,000. With three more sacks, Smith would hit 12 sacks and earn both the $750,000 for getting to 10 sacks and another $1.2 million for hitting 12.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur is planning to play starters against the Lions despite his team having the No. 1 seed in the NFC clinched. It’s unclear how long veterans like Smith will play, but chasing the sack incentive could certainly play into the decision, especially if he’s productive early and getting to 12 sacks is a real possibility in the second half.

Smith has already earned back $1.25 million for reaching six sacks ($500,000) and eight sacks ($750,000).

Smith’s total available incentives through sacks is $4.4 million. He would need to go crazy on Sunday and produce five total sacks to hit all five incentives up to 14 sacks.

But even if Smith can get to 12, he would collect $3.2 million in total, helping him come close to getting to the $12 million he was scheduled to make in 2021 before the restructure.

There’s no doubt Smith has been a different player in 2021. After producing only 4.0 sacks and 26 total pressures last season, Smith has 9.0 sacks and 58 pressures in 2021. His current grade at Pro Football Focus of 79.3 would be a new career-high.

Can he finish off a bounceback season in style at Ford Field?

The Lions brought back offensive tackles Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell from the COVID-19 reserve list, potentially complicating Smith’s path to 10 or 12 sacks.

Smith has 3.0 sacks in six career games against the Lions but only 0.5 in his last four. Lions starting quarterback Jared Goff has been sacked 34 times this season and has a sack percentage of 6.8.

The Packers don’t have anything to play for in terms of playoff positioning, but Smith is one veteran starter worth watching in the season finale on Sunday.

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The incentive-laden restructure of Preston Smith’s contract keeps looking better and better for both the player and the Green Bay Packers.

Smith, who delivered another sack during the Packers’ 24-22 win over the Cleveland Browns on Saturday, hit another incentive in his contract and earned $750,000.

Smith has eight sacks this season. He hit his first incentive – worth $500,000 – when he reached six sacks earlier this year. His total earned through contract incentives now sits at $1.25 million, a significant sum for a player who agreed to a paycut to stay in Green Bay in 2021.

The Packers have two more regular-season games to play, giving Smith a real opportunity to hit at least one more of the incentive levels. If he delivers two more sacks and gets to 10, he’ll earn another $750,000.

If he can produce four more sacks in the last two games, he’ll earn the $750,000 for getting to 10 and another $1.2 million for reaching 12.

The contract provided an opportunity to earn back $4.4 million total. The final $1.2 million, for getting to 14 sacks, is probably out of reach. But earning at least $2 million of the $4.4 million included in the contract and making over $10 million total this year is certainly possible for Smith, who was originally scheduled to make $12 million in 2021 before the restructure.

Smith, who had just four sacks during a disappointing 2020 season, has six sacks in his last six games, and he’s on pace to more than double the amount of total pressures (29) he produced lat season.

The Packers and Smith found a creative and smart way of slashing his cap hit but keeping him on the roster, while also providing financial incentive for a bounceback season. It’s all come together beautifully for Smith and the Packers. The player is having a terrific season, upping his value considerably whether he’s in Green Bay or not next season, and the Packers are enjoying the rewards of keeping a veteran player at a premium position.

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Preston Smith’s resurgence has been a revelation for the Green Bay Packers defense. His play this season comes as a welcomed surprise on the heels of a lackluster 2020 campaign.

When the Packers signed Smith to a lucrative deal during the 2019 offseason, he responded with a breakout year that saw the talented edge rusher put up career-highs in sacks, tackles, and quarterback hits. However, Smith did not have nearly the same impact in Year 2. In fact, he experienced a significant regression that left many wondering if he would be back in 2021 at all.

Rather than part ways completely, Green Bay decided to restructure Smith’s contract. Smith’s base salary was reduced, but they granted him the opportunity to earn significant bonuses through better play. In Week 14’s game against the Chicago Bears, Smith recorded his sixth sack of the year and was rewarded a bonus of $500K as part of his new deal. Before the season is over, Smith has a realistic chance to earn a lot more.

If Smith can continue to sack opposing quarterbacks, he can earn up to $4.4 million in incentives. This time last year, Smith would have been nowhere close.

In 2020, Smith played in all 16 games last and totaled 26 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. He also recorded just 4.0 sacks, which tied the lowest total for his career. However, after just 12 games, Smith has already passed his sack total from last season and blown his pressures out of the water. PFF has officially credited Smith with 47 pressures in 2021, which is 14th among edge rushers.

Smith may not top his incredible sack numbers from 2019, but his performance this season has provided a huge boost to the defense. PFF rates the Packers as the fourth-best team in terms of pass-rushing grade. Surprisingly, they have done this without their top edge rusher Za’Darius Smith for most of the season. A lot of credit goes to Rashan Gary, who is one of the best young pass rushers in the NFL. But Smith also deserves a ton of credit for picking up the slack better than anyone could have predicted.

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Dropping into coverage was never Preston Smith’s strong suit. Fortunately, he is doing far less under Green Bay Packers’ new defensive coordinator Joe Barry.

Through the first 11 games in 2021, Smith has dropped into coverage only 28 times, according to Pro Football Focus. At this point last season, Smith had already dropped back 78 times. Of course, this was under former defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, who is now a senior assistant for the Chicago Bears.

For whatever reason, Pettine had no problem letting Smith’s pass coverage snaps hit double digits in a single game. He did so three different times during the 2020 season and six times in 2019. Smith has yet to play at least 10 snaps in pass coverage under Barry. Against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 12, Smith did not drop back even a single time.

Before arriving in Green Bay back in 2019, Smith had never played more than 75 coverage snaps in a single season. In his first two years with the Packers, he did it over 100 times in both years. PFF gave Smith coverage grades of 46.5 and 45.7 for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Both of those grades were the lowest of his career.

This is not to say Smith is a liability in coverage, but when he is lined up out wide against a running back, that is a matchup the opposing team would be wise to exploit. Smith does not exactly have the swiftest of feet, but he does have long arms to potentially impede passing lanes, and knockdown throws. However, his pass deflection totals have yet to rise.

Not to mention, opposing teams had a really good chance of completing a pass in Smith’s direction in 2019 and 2020. During that two-year span, Smith allowed 26 receptions on 34 targets. Those 26 completions went for 252 yards, and half of them resulted in first downs.

Luckily, Green Bay hasn’t had to worry about that this season. So far, Smith has surrendered just one completion for a total of seven yards. His play has also improved in other areas as his run defense grade is the highest it’s been since 2018. Even his impact as a pass rusher is seeing a dramatic improvement compared to last season. Smith already has more quarterback pressures in 2021 than he did all of 2020.

Thanks to Barry, Smith is back to doing what he does best.

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