Trade Deadline Takeaways: Why Did Steelers Want Preston Smith?
Why did the Pittsburgh Steelers want to make a trade deadline acquisition of an outside linebacker like Preston Smith?
The Pittsburgh Steelers made two big additions at the 2024 NFL trade deadline on Tuesday. One of those was obvious, as Omar Khan addressed the position that everyone has been talking about for months by trading for wide receiver Mike Williams. The other move was less obvious, though, as the Steelers added outside linebacker Preston Smith from the Green Bay Packers.
On the surface, the move seems curious. The price paid was low, with Pittsburgh sending a seventh-round pick to Green Bay. They won’t owe much to Smith, either, with him due just about $2 million in salary for the rest of the year.
Smith is a very accomplished player. He has started 138 games over 10 years between the Packers and Washington Redskins and has 68.5 career sacks. He’s never missed an NFL game. He’s been remarkable consistent with production, as well. He’s had eight or more sacks in six of his nine complete seasons, including last year as a 31-year-old.
Clearly, Smith represented very good value for the Steelers at the trade deadline. But that doesn’t fully explain why Khan was looking to make such a move in the first place. After all, the Steelers have best edge rusher in the NFL in T.J. Watt, a rising young star in Alex Highsmith and potentially another one on the way in Nick Herbig. They weren’t exactly lacking at the position.
To explain why they really wanted Smith, you might have to dig a bit deeper than Khan. Steelers assistant general manger Andy Weidl has gotten a lot of credit for the Steelers’ ongoing rebuild of its offensive line. Weidl, a former lineman himself, oversaw such a build in Philadelphia, and with four top draft picks in two years, the Steelers appear to be well on their way to replicating some of that success.
But a foundation of strong offensive line play wasn’t the only thing that Weidl learned with the Eagles. The recent run of Philly success has been anchored by defensive lines that were not only strong in the first wave, but played backups significant minutes, sending two waves of fresh pass-rushers and run-stuffers at opposing defenses.
In 2017, on the way to the Eagles’ Super Bowl win, Brandon Graham was the most-played member of the defensive line at 64.7% of the team’s snaps. Fletcher Cox (58.9%), Vinny Curry (55.9%), Chris Long (48.2%), Timmy Jernigan (47.9%), Derek Barnett (41.2%) and Beau Allen (41.1%) all got significant playing time — a seven-man rotation of near-equals.
So far this season, Watt has played in 91.5% of the Steelers’ offensive snaps. Only injury has prevented Highsmith from joining him with a number that lofty. Even 35-year-old defensive tackle Cam Heyward has played 68.8% of the snaps. The number of defensive lineman that have played more than 40% of the team’s snaps is just five: Watt, Highsmith, Heyward, Larry Ogunjobi and Keeanu Benton.
Number six is Herbig, way down at 28.6%, and you have to get all the way down to Montravius Adams at 21.7% to round out an equal seven-man rotation. Adams is on the injured reserve list.
Clearly, the Steelers have a very talented front five, but they do not have the kind of depth that those Eagles possessed, and it’s not a mistake that they’re looking for it. Not only does the depth provide the Steelers with a bigger-bodied backup that is better against the run that Herbig, it allows less to be more for all of the team’s other edge rushers.
So when bargain shopping at the trade deadline, when Khan got a chance to land a player like Smith for a very low cost, it made a ton of sense for the Steelers.
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