Packers linebacker Za’Darius Smith had back surgery this week

NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo announced Friday that Packers All-Pro Za’Darius Smith had back surgery earlier in the week. Garafolo tweeted, “He should be out for a long time, although the hope is that it is not an end-of-season situation.”

Smith has been suffering from his back injury since camp when he started the summer on the Physically Unable to Perform Packers roster. He trained once at camp before resuming the rehab process, but adjusted for the Packers in Week 1 as a designated passer. The following Friday, head coach Matt LaFleur told media that Smith was going to be shut down “for a while” with the silver lining hopefully only after a three-week stint on the reserve roster. injured, Smith would return in good health.

Two weeks after this announcement, the glimmer of hope was lost in the clouds. Sports Illustrated Bill Huber went so far as to tweet that “Hope is just that. A hope. It is not the wait. Overwhelming news. Point blank.

While we don’t have details on the back injury or the surgery, it’s worth noting that Smith is essentially in a “proving” season with the Packers. The team converted his salary into a signing bonus, a mechanism the front office can do without Smith’s permission, leaving the pass-rusher with a cap of $ 28.1 million on the books in 2022. Why is it important? The team would save nearly $ 16 million in cap space next year by releasing or swapping Smith, at the age of 30, through Spotrac. The Packers would also save so much money by releasing or trading him in the final season of his four-year contract.

For a player in Smith’s position, it might have made financial sense to try to overcome an injury, avoiding end-of-season surgery, with an uncertain future. I’m sure many fans will wonder why a summer back injury would take until the end of September to receive surgical treatment, and her contractual situation could very well be the answer to the question.

In Smith’s absence, Preston Smith and Rashan Gary have started in his place at the outside linebacker with Jonathan Garvin and Chauncey Rivers claiming the waiver of the August waiver. LaDarius Hamilton, another outside linebacker, was taken off the Tampa Bay practice squad the day Smith was placed on IR but was not activated for a game. Randy Ramsey, who would likely have been part of the Packers’ opening day roster as a rotational passer, was also placed on IR in August with an ankle injury.