Packers trade up for edge rusher in NFL Wire network mock draft

The Green Bay Packers will likely lose Za’Darius Smith at some point in the next week, a result of the team’s salary cap crunch, but it’s also abundantly clear how much general manager Brian Gutekunst values the edge rusher position on his roster.

So, when the cards fell right in our NFL Wire Network mock draft of the first round, the decision was obvious: the Packers needed to move up to take an edge rusher that plays a little like Smith.

Controlling the Packers and representing Packers Wire, we moved up from No. 28 overall to No. 24 to take Purdue edge rusher George Karlaftis.

The cost to go up four spots was swapping the team’s third-round pick for the Dallas Cowboys’ fourth-round pick, or…