The 2024 NFL trade deadline came and went, and the Green Bay Packers traded away EDGE Preston Smith and acquired no players. For the 6-3 Packers, who are in the middle of a highly competitive NFC North, why then didn't Green Bay make a move to bolster their roster to ensure a playoff push? General manager Brian Gutekunst explained his rationale when speaking to the press, per Bill Huber of SI.
“It’s not a store you can go in and pick and choose,” Gutekunst said. “Those guys have got to be available and there just wasn’t a ton available this year. We always look at a lot of things, have some conversations, talk to people, but not a lot materialized this year.
“First off, I just want to say thanks to Preston Smith,” Gutekunst continued. “(In) 2019, we signed four guys and didn’t really know how that was going to shake out. For him to be here still 5 1/2 years later and produce like he’s produced, he’s done a lot of good things for us.
“I’m really appreciative. He played a lot of good football for us and won a lot of games. I wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”
The Packers are currently third in the NFC North behind the 7-1 Detroit Lions and 6-2 Minnesota Vikings. The Chicago Bears are in last at 4-4.
Packers trade key pass-rusher, rely on depth moving forward
Green Bay will rely on a heavy rotation of Kingsley Enagbare and Lukas Van Ness in addition to their best pass-rusher Rashan Gary. It's also likely that Arron Mosby sees more playing time as the Packers only have one player, linebacker Quay Walker, who plays every snap on defense.
“Yeah, we’re excited to see both of those guys, see some more snaps,” Gutekunst said of Mosby and Brenton Cox, who has been inactive for every game this season.
“I think certainly they’ve earned it. I thought they did a really nice job in training camp, and they’ve continued that through practice. I think Mosby’s done a really nice job on (special) teams for us. Brenton’s just really eager, and we’re eager to see him.”
As expected, the Packers will rely on homegrown talent rather than overextending themselves via free agency or trade and that was communicated as Gutekunst explained his trade talk process.
“I think these things are four, five, six weeks before now,” Gutekunst said. “As we went through it, I kind of assumed it was going to be very quiet, and it very much was this year. I think those initial conversations, and they can change, but as we monitor it, it was pretty steady that it was going to be quiet (and) that acquiring any significant players, there wasn’t going to be a lot of opportunity to do that.”
The Packers travel to Chicago after a Week 10 bye for their Week 11 matchup against the Bears on Sunday, November 17, at 1:00 p.m. EST.
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