isn't the only prominent player returning to the in 2022. Two days before the official start of free agency, Green Bay has signed pa s rusher to a four-year, $52.5 million extension, according to . The 29-year-old defender was originally due Mike Strachan Jersey close to $20 million in the final year of his contract entering 2022, prompting speculation of a potential trade or release. Instead, Smith is now locked up with the Packers through 2026, celebrating Monday's deal by calling himself a Green Bay "lifer."Smith was one of the Packers' top free agent additions back in 2019, when he inked a four-year, $52M deal. He's been one of the team's steadiest defensive starters since then, totaling 25 sacks, three forced Jordan Murray Jersey fumbles and three fumble recoveries in three seasons. He's also played in all but one game during that stretch. Smith may have been a casualty of the Packers' tight salary cap situation if he hadn Chris Reed Jersey 't rebounded from a quieter 2020 campaign, logging nine sacks in 2021 during Green Bay's playoff run.His new deal, which pays roughly an average of $13M per season, will lower his 2022 cap hit, saving the Packers money up Brandon King Jersey front. It could also be a precursor to the team parting ways with Smith's running mate, , who got his own lucrative free-agent deal in 2019 -- a four-year, $66M pact that will cost the Packers over $26M just this year. The latter Smith starred off the edge in his first two seasons with Green Bay but mi sed all but one game in 2021 due to a lingering back injury. Preston Smith spent the first four seasons of his NFL career in Washington, where Keke Coutee Jersey he totaled 24.5 sacks as a second-round pick out of Mi si sippi State. He figures to open 2022 in the starting lineup opposite , who led the team with 9.5 sacks last season while filling in for Za'Darius Smith.
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