Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers face questions in defensive trenches

Published Feb. 9, 2022 5:15 p.m. ET

It's not only at the quarterback position that Green Bay faces questions.

The Packers are in a salary cap nightmare heading into the offseason, nearly $50 million over the projected salary cap for next season ($48,910,955 to be exact). That's the second-deepest hole in the league, trailing only the New Orleans Saints.

With that, Green Bay has a bevy of personnel decisions to make this summer, specifically in the trenches on defense. The names that stick out are linebacker Za'Darius Smith, and defensive linemen Preston Smith and Dean Lowry.

Here's the lay of the land:

A back injury allowed Za'Darius Smith to play just 18 snaps this year, but in his first two seasons with Green Bay, he tallied 26 sacks, 29 tackles for loss, 60 QB hits and five forced fumbles in 32 regular-season starts.

He made the Pro Bowl in both 2019 and 2020, and was second-team All-Pro last season.

As for the other Smith, Preston had an 81.5 Pro Football Focus grade this season, which was 12th among edge defenders. He tallied nine sacks (second on the team), nine tackles for loss (second on the team), 17 QB hits and two forced fumbles in the regular season.

In addition, his 25 sacks since joining the Packers in 2019 are second to only Za’Darius Smith over that time span.

Rounding out the group of front-line defenders that the Packers stand to lose is Lowry. He posted a 66.6 PFF grade this season, 35th among interior defenders, and registered five sacks, five tackles for loss, nine QB hits and four pass deflections this year.

Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith and Lowry are each under contract for one more season (through 2022). Za'Darius Smith will carry a cap hit of $27.7 million in 2022, second to only Aaron Rodgers. Preston Smith will carry a cap hit of $19.7 million in 2022, and Lowry will carry a cap hit of $8.1 million in 2022.