Smith was one of the major offseason Brian Gutekunst signings that some people may have scratched their heads at. But he produced the following season with 56 tackles and 12 total sacks.
Preston fared well lining up opposite of Za’Darius Smith and rushing the quarterback that season.
However, Preston’s numbers (and playing time) dropped significantly in 2020. He looked noticeably slower and made much less of an impact – only posting four total sacks and 42 total tackles.
With major cap restructures needing to be done before the 2021 season, many thought it wouldn’t be a shock to let Smith go and free up more cap space.