Packers punter Daniel Whelan grateful to receive a contract extension
The Packers extended Whelan along with kicker Brandon McManus and long snapper Matt Orzech to keep the unit in Green Bay for the foreseeable future.
Za’Darius Smith gets to face the Green Bay Packers again, and he will likely relish that opportunity.
Smith, who played for the Packers from 2019-21, signed a one-year contract on Sept. 5 to join the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, who square off with Green Bay later in the 2025 season.
Smith had gone unsigned this offseason after the Detroit Lions released him in March. The 32-year-old split time with the Lions and Cleveland Browns in 2024.
Smith went to two Pro Bowls (2019 and 2020) and earned second-team All-Pro honors in 2020 with the Packers. His 13½ sacks in 2019 and 12½ in 2020 with the Packers remain his highest totals of his career.
A back injury, however, limited him to just one game in 2021 — the season opener — though he returned for the Packers’ divisional round playoff game loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
The Packers released Smith at the start of free agency to save cap space that offseason. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings and turned in another Pro Bowl season, racking up 10.0 sacks in 16 games.
He said in an interview with the Go Long football website that he chose the Vikings so he would get to play against the Packers. He blasted the organization for how he says he was treated like a “nobody” by the team during the 2021 season while hurt.
“I put my blood, sweat … I put my back on the (expletive) line,” Smith told reporter Tyler Dunne. “I put everything. And that Year 3, I was treated bad. That’s why I’m here now. So, I can play them twice a year.”
After one season with the Vikings, Smith moved on to the Cleveland Browns where he played the next 1½ years before he was sent to the Lions at the trade deadline last season.
While with the Lions, Smith had two tackles, a sack and a tackle for a loss in a 34-31 win over the Packers on Dec. 5.
Smith now joins an Eagles defense that allowed the fewest yards in the NFL in 2024 and boasted the No. 2-ranked scoring defense. He also joins former teammate, running back AJ Dillon, on the Eagles.
Smith and Dillon square off against the Packers in a Week 9 game on “Monday Night Football” at Lambeau Field.