II agree with this take.

The fact Preston came to camp so out of shape last year is a huge concern. He was out of shape all last year. While in better shape this year I still dont think he is in fantastic shape from photos. You just dont do extremes like that at 27 and 28 as a professional football player. Yes, I hope he has a great season, but give me Z or Gary who consistently work out. I dont see him back next year personally and will see OLB a need.

Let’s hope so. Let’s also hope that retaining him signals both that Barry intends to aggressively go after QBs and that he has a viable plan to get Gary plenty of snaps alongside the Smiths without making us porous against the run. If he does, I think the D will be a great deal better, just not sure how he will achieve that.

I think this will signal more of all three of Z, P & Gary being on the field at the same time, with Z playing a lot of 3-tech. Seems to make the most sense here with what little we've learned of the new scheme.

Having Preston Smith returning to 2021 in shape, with some HUGE monetary incentives attached to his success seems like a quality plan, after taking the pay cut. This could be really good, and I agree with Cory's take in this article.

Another player I believe will be helping to provide quality depth here is Delontae Scott, the DE from SMU. Man, he is one big dude, long, and should help out a lot in both pass rush and run stop.

Preston Smith is auditioning for his next team. He knows it. The whole league knows it.

The Packers likely can't afford to carry his contract into 2022. There's a significant dead hit on his deal, but the $12.5M in cap savings will be too important for the Packers to ignore. This is his last best chance to net a big contract with significant bonus money...so he'll be playing full tilt in 2021. P. will be playing somewhere else in 2022, and hopefully he'll make himself look good enough that some GM will pony up a player/pick in return, because a cut nets the Packers nothing but cap relief.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/green-bay-packers/preston-smith-16762/

Joe Barry should follow LaFleur’s guideline of putting the best 11 out there. You can’t double-team everyone. Between Z, P, Gary and Clark, someone’s gonna get to the quarterback.

Think you nailed this Cory. P.Smith still has a lot left in the tank.

Let’s hope so, because he looked awful last year. Even more concerning is pettine didn’t give Gary more snaps because of it. Lots should be cleared up this year with both players.

Not sure what to expect if a guy shows up to a physical job out-of-shape. I think that I would have saved the money and given others the chance to show-up.

Overall, I would like to see the Packers play the run better. The Smith Bros and company did a good job of pressuring the opposing QB but overall we were suspect on setting the edge and keeping run yards down. I am not sure if we can have both with these guys but Joe Barry is going to find out that getting to the QB is not the weakness of this D.

I think we can give Preston a bit of a break for coming in a bit heavy.
No one knew if there was going to be a season last year with COVID.
I believe he’ll come back motivated this year after he was embarrassed a bit last season and wants to prove he’s still got it and of course earn a new contract (probably somewhere else)
Looking forward to the return of the Smith Bros.!
Go Pack!

Tthere are times when a manager tries various approaches to tweek and enhance one's investment rather than cut bait just soon as production drops. A good manager digs in the management arsenal, works with scheme, and perhaps an offseason program of physical re-conditioning, etc. Seems they believe they can salvage a key investment, instead of risk a premature cut. They clearly cast a lot of Defensive shortcomings on Pettine, so with a new DC, they isolated the change needed at DC as well as perhaps conditioning. If they are wrong, then you still have to admire their precision and clarity.

A pay cut, with incentives is a pretty significant wake up call, as well as a statement of faith. I like it a lot. And the advantage to hang in a little longer with this investment is tantalizing....in that it gives the D a lot of flexibility, perhaps a little redundancy, but we gotta mention that 'what if injury' contingency so that the whole D doesn't crack over a few game stretch. It was a prudent plan, to hold that unit together one more year as cohesive as possible to "go all in" as many wish for (myself included).

You might have added that the Packers felt he played heavier and not in the best shape last year

We suit up 21 defenders for games. About 11 of those are DL/LBs/Edge types.

Clark. Lowry. Keke. Lancaster. Slaton.. Five big dudes on the DL.

Smith. Smith. Gary. That’s our edge pressure.

Barnes. Campbell. Martin. That’s the rest of the defense, minus the secondary.

I like this group. We can compete with this group. I think it’s unlikely we’ll add a FA to this bunch before the season starts. We might get a guy through trade who could help us, but by and large, this is it.

We need about 700+ healthy snaps from all of our OLBs, including Smith, and he’s delivered the last two seasons. I think that evaluating him based solely on sacks and pressures is kind of a shallow and inaccurate way of assessment. We’ve lost SIX games since he arrived, and weak defense has only been a significant factor in about one or two of those.

The defense has played together for a while and there’s some leadership on the field. We added some guys…Stokes, Slaton, Campbell. Young players are ascending. I’m excited about what we could see this year.

Curiously enough, Preston plays better in odd-numbered years. 2015, '17, '19: 28 sacks, 54 QB hits, and 27 tackles for losses; 2016, '18, '20: 12.5 sacks, 39 QB hits, and 20 tackles for losses. So after he recedes, he always bounces back the following season.

and hes going to be better why? Looks lilke Gary may have put a lot of weight on and thats not good for a linebacker/pass rusher. He wasnt all that speedy to begn with. No I think this d is equal to last year but not super bowl quality.

Preston Smith means nothing if the Packers don't get serious about the middle of the field.
LINEBACKERS NEEDED

I was happy when he did this. https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2021/6/23/22546196/packers-top-plays-...

Part of the reason for P's fall off was how Pettine used him. He had him take Fackrell's 2019 role in pass pro....Fackrell was good at it, Preston was not. Opposing QBs targeted him a lot with success...and that also reduced his pash rush stats.

I am hoping Barry does what Pettine said he would do, but did not....play the D scheme that best fits the STRENGTHS of your starting 11.

Z, Preston and Gary can all be effective pressuring from the 3 tech. I can see many snaps where all three are on the field.