Preston Smith's surprising role in Week 7 adds fuel to Packers trade rumors

For the next two weeks, we're all allowed to overreact.

Them's the rules when it's Trade Deadline SZN. If overanalyzing and making preposterous assumptions over the tiniest detail isn't your cup of tea, maybe sports blogs aren't for you? But they're definitely not for you the next couple weeks, as NFL teams work their hardest to trade for a fifth edge-rusher that they can sell to their fanbase as the final piece in a Super Bowl run.

The Green Bay Packers are no exception, and a few of their players have already shown up on Insider's big fancy list of trade targets. One of those names in particular would probably have fans in Green Bay panicking jusssssst a little: edge-rusher Preston Smith.

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Smith's name has shown up a bit more than expected over the last month, and Sunday's win against the Houston Texans may have been the latest sign that he's not sticking around through the rest of the year. I did promise preposterous assumptions.

Preston Smith's snap count in Week 7 raises some questions about his future with Packers

According to Pro Football Focus, Smith only played 28 snaps against the Texans on Sunday (out of a possible 64). It'd be one of the few times over the course of his career in Green Bay that Smith's played less than 50% of the defensive snaps – it was around 43%, to be more specific. He clearly was the odd man out of the edge-rushing rotation, as Rashan Gary, Kingsley Enagbare, and Lukas Van Ness all played significantly more.

It's also tied for the lowest snapcount of Preston's season, along with the Packers' Week 2 win over the Indianapolis Colts. His snaps are a bit all over the place this season, but there's been a clear decline over the past six weeks as a whole. After starting the season playing over 70% of the defensive snaps against the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil, Smith's percentages have dropped significantly – though Sunday was the first time all season it was below 50%.

This may be a lot of pointless speculation, but nothing is nothing for the next two weeks. You'd think that any trade the Packers make would be to bring *in* another pass rusher (like Maxx Crosby!?!) but maybe not! Maybe Brian Gutekunst and Matt LaFleur have something entirely different in mind. Trade Deadline SZN, so hot right now.

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