Packers’ Updated Depth Chart After Jaylon Smith Contract

AP Photo/Matt Patterson

Former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Jaylon
Smith signed a one-year contract to join the Green Bay Packers on
Thursday.

Doug Hendrickson, Smith’s agent,
confirmed the deal to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Here’s a look at what the Packers’ updated defensive depth chart could look like once the linebacker joins the group:

DE: Dean Lowry, Tyler Lancaster

DT: Kenny Clark, T.J. Slaton

DE: Kingsley Keke, Jack Heflin

OLB: Preston Smith, Chauncey Rivers

ILB: Jaylon Smith, Krys Barnes

ILB: De’Vondre Campbell, Ty Summers

OLB: Rashan Gary, Jonathan Garvin

CB: Jaire Alexander, Chandon Sullivan

CB: Kevin King, Eric Stokes

SS: Adrian Amos, Vernon Scott

FS: Darnell Savage, Henry Black

Smith was surprisingly released Tuesday
four games into the 2021 season. After spending the last three years
as a full-time starter for Dallas, he’d been moved to a more
situational role during the early stages of the campaign. He’d played
just 56 percent of the defensive snaps during the team’s 3-1 start, per Pro Football Reference.

In 2020, the 26-year-old Notre Dame
product recorded 154 total tackles, which ranked second in the NFL,
along with five passes defended, two fumbles recoveries, 1.5 sacks
and an interception while playing all 16 games for the Cowboys.

He earned his first Pro Bowl selection
in 2019 after a 142-tackle season.

Yet, despite the Indiana native’s
previous production, the Cowboys “did not want to take the
financial risk” of Smith suffering an injury that would have
guaranteed his $9.2 million salary for 2022 since he’d become a
part-time player within their defense, per ESPN’s Todd Archer.

“This is about progress and a little
more clarity with defensive packages and personnel groups and how we
want to play,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters. “The direction of how we’re approaching the season, the ability
to develop a roster top to bottom, particularly with the young
players.”

The linebacker received a lackluster
69.5 overall grade from Pro Football Focus for the first four games
of the 2021 season, but he should receive a more expansive role in
Green Bay once he gets up to full speed with the defensive scheme.

Smith missed his rookie season in 2016
because of multiple injuries to his left knee, including a torn ACL,
suffered in his final college game but had bounced back to become a
key member of the Dallas defense for the past four years.

Now he’ll look to provide a boost to a
Packers team that ranks tied for 19th in scoring defense (25
points allowed per game) so far in 2021.

Smith should have an opportunity to
overtake Krys Barnes for a starting role alongside De’Vondre Campbell
in the coming weeks.

It’s unclear whether he’ll be active
for Sunday’s Week 5 road game against the Cincinnati Bengals given
the short turnaround, though.