Smith doesn’t have money on his mind
GREEN BAY - When the repercussions from last season hit, and the ultimatum came down to slash $4 million from his wallet, Preston Smith faced another career-defining decision.
It was hard to predict how Smith would handle something as delicate as a demanded pay cut. In 2019, he was one of the Green Bay Packers’ stars, a charismatic free-agent signee who ripped through opponents each week on his way to a career-high 12 sacks. In 2020, his encore was a flop. Smith’s production slipped to just four sacks. His first unassisted sack didn’t come until the middle of November.
Smith remained one of the Packers’ essential defenders, a versatile outside linebacker asked to fill many roles at a position lacking depth. Make no mistake: The Packers needed Smith to return in 2021. Smith knew it. So when the Packers requested Smith take a $4 million salary decrease to stay, it would have been easy to let anger discard reason. Even coach Matt LaFleur acknowledged Monday he was unsure what Smith would do, given the salary cap gymnastics.
Smith said he never considered any alternative.
“No doubt in my mind,” Smith said. “I knew I was gonna be back. I didn’t think I was gonna be anywhere else. This is where I wanted to be. This is where they wanted me to be.”
Smith's pay cut was among a series of restructures the Packers executed in the spring to pull themselves underneath the regressed salary cap. The restructures included outside linebacker Za'Darius Smith, safety Adrian Amos, left tackle David Bakhtiari, right tackle Billy Turner, defensive lineman Dean Lowry and kicker Mason Crosby. Their situations were similar. Instead of a pay decrease, money designed to be paid as base salary was converted to guaranteed bonuses, lowering their cap hits.
Preston Smith was the only player whose salary was cut.
An already awkward situation could have become more uncomfortable with how Smith viewed his 2020 season. To Smith, the dip from 12 sacks in 2019 — a borderline Pro Bowl year — to four last year was mostly the byproduct of a position change. After Kyler Fackrell left in free agency, someone needed to assume his role as coverage specialist in former coordinator Mike Pettine's defense. The job fell to Smith, meaning he'd drop in coverage much more often.
It's hard to rush the quarterback when you're moving backward.
“I'm a team-first guy,” Smith said. “I just did what was asked of me. Sometimes being a team guy doesn't yield the personal stats you want, but I came out there and put the team first and did what I had to do to make sure overall we had a successful season, and that I did my part to make sure there wasn't no lapses in the defense.”
Smith said he approached his pay cut as a “business” decision, setting aside ego. “You can't think with your feelings,” he said. He understood the domino effect. His pay cut, he knew, helped make re-signing running back Aaron Jones possible.
After four seasons in Washington languishing on a fringe playoff contender, Smith preferred to stay with a winning team. He played in an NFC wildcard game against the Packers in his rookie season of 2015. After that, Washington failed to reach the playoffs again and had losing records in his final two seasons.
With the Packers, Smith appeared in each of the past two NFC championship games. He wants to take the next step this year.
“We came so close this past year,” Smith said, “and each year, the year before. We've been in two NFC championships. That's the farthest I've ever been in my career, and I've been there twice in back-to-back years. I believe in what we've got going on around here. It's a lot of great guys. The majority of guys returned, and it's always great — everybody here believes the same thing. We can do it. We have a chance to do it. We came close twice, and last year — I don't make the calls, but we had a chance to be in the big show. We know when we fix those little things, like we did week in and week out from the year before, we could possibly be in the big dance.”
Winning cures a lot of hurt feelings in the NFL. Even more, Smith knew the business end of his pay cut benefited him.
The Packers are giving Smith a chance to earn back his $4 million — and potentially more — in incentives. With 14 sacks this season, Smith will receive $4.4 million. From there, he has descending escalators, from $3.2 million at 12 sacks, to $2 million at 10 sacks, to $1.25 million at eight sacks, to $500,000 at six sacks.
It's money Smith might not have earned back with another team if he'd refused the pay cut, prompting his release. If he signed with another team, Smith risked signing a less lucrative contract in a pandemic-depressed market.
“You don't really think about that,” Smith said. “My job is to go out there and be the Preston Smith (that) I know I can be. High production. High energy. Making plays, causing havoc for other offenses, doing my part for my team. Make sure I have a lot of productivity for myself. I don't focus on what I've got to do to get this, because if you handle your business, the money is going to come.”
Smith, knowing the money at stake, devoted himself this offseason. He changed his diet, added cardio workouts. He reported to camp leaner than a year ago, though Smith indicated he didn't feel out of shape last year.
It's unclear how much Smith's role will revert under new defensive coordinator Joe Barry. The two are familiar, Barry having coached Smith for two seasons in Washington. Rashan Gary's emergence as a pass-rushing threat last season could keep Smith in a similar role. LaFleur said Smith is a “bona fide” pass rusher, but also noted his versatility.
“We're going to continue to push him to be his best,” LaFleur said, “because when he's going, he is somebody you better account for from an offensive perspective. … I think he understands. He knows what's in front of him. He's a pro, and he's been doing this a long time. He's put the work in, and now he has to go out there and just do it.”
In the past, Smith has kept a list of personal goals closely guarded. He wanted to reach double-digit sacks in 2019, and he surpassed that mark. Now, the challenge is different. Instead of having a breakout season, Smith must find a way back to where he was before last year.
He's proven capable of being a game changer. He's also been inconsistent. For the Packers' defense, there's a big difference in which Smith shows up this fall.
Smith knows the same is true for him.
“Not to have that season again,” Smith said. “That's a personal goal. To be better than I was last year. That's always a goal to make sure I improve on a lot of areas I didn't execute that well last year. I want to make sure this season I improve on a lot of things I need to work on from this offseason, and make sure this year I don't have a repeat season like that.”