Be honest: you thought that since the NFL Trade Deadline came and went, we were going to stop talking about Preston Smith, didn’t you? I don’t blame you – in theory, now that Preston is happily in Pittsburgh playing in the scheme he’s comfortable in, it’d make sense to expect everyone on all sides to move on.
Unfortunately, that’s not how the NFL – or blogging – works. It’s my sworn duty to continue squeezing the Preston Smith trade for all the juice it’s worth, because that’s how the content ecosystem works. It ain’t much, but it’s honest work.
Without Smith, the Packers have a bit of a hole at pass-rusher. He wasn’t exactly putting up Pro Bowl numbers, but anytime you move on from a proven vet – even if he was pretty rotational at this point – it never hurts to backfill that spot with another.
And now that longtime edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue is back on the free agent market – he was released by the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday morning – it makes all the sense in the world* to bring him into Green Bay.
*Some sense, definitely not all. Maybe not even some.
Intriguing Preston Smith replacement just became available for Packers
Many are intrigued by the idea, including Packers cap expert Ken Ingalls, who breaks down why it would be a low-risk move with high upside.
Following the trade deadline, every released player is subject to waivers.
The argument for Ngakoue goes more-or-less like this: he’s produced everywhere he’s gone, except for Chicago. He had a career-worst four sacks last season with the Bears, but didn’t play much due to an ankle injury that ended his season after 13 games.
Before that, he had at least eight sacks in every season of his career, including 19.5 sacks in a two-year stretch with the Colts and Raiders in 2021-2022. As a situational, depth pass-rusher, that’s about as good as it gets. He’s also only on a one-year deal making basically the veteran’s minimum, so it’s not like the Packers would need to take on a big ol’ salary to get him in the building.
The argument against Ngakoue goes more-or-less like this: he might be very washed. He only has 1.5 sacks this season, and didn’t start any of the five games he appeared in with the Ravens. It doesn’t help his case that Baltimore’s defense has been underwhelming this year, and that 33-year-old outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy leads the team in sacks (7.5).
It sounds like they’re interested in signing him to the practice squad if he clears waivers, and this move had more to do with getting someone else on the active roster.
Moves like these fizzle out more often than not, but this is too much of a low-stakes move for a team like the Packers to pass on. Plus, how funny would it be if he was terrible with the Bears, only to ruin their season less than a year later?