Preston Smith will be joining the Packers once free agency begins. According to multiple reports, including from Packer Report, the Packers will sign the former Washington Redskins outside linebacker. This comes on the heels of the Packers expecting to sign Baltimore Ravens edge rusher Za'Darius Smith and Chicago Bears safety Adrian Amos.

Smith was drafted by the Redskins in the second round in 2015. He has played in every game of his four-year career and has recorded 29 tackles for loss and 24.5 sacks during that span. His best season was in 2017, when he posted 42 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, eight sacks, two interceptions and three passes defended. In 2018, the Mississippi State alum notched 53 tackles, five tackles for loss, four sacks, one interception and three passes defended.

According to Pro Football Focus, he ranked 24th among edge rushers with 53 total pressures and 42nd in PFF’s pass-rushing productivity, which measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap. Smith has started all 48 games the past three seasons.

Before Smith was drafted by the Redskins, Lance Zierlein of NFL.com compared him to Antonio Smith who played in the NFL from 2004-2016 and was named to the Pro Bowl in 2011. Here's a look at what Zierlein had to say about Preston Smith.

"Smith has been a solid, rotational defensive end for Mississippi State, but nothing too special. When studying tape long enough, you see traits and potential. With his long arms, plus hands and ability to play the run, Smith could be an interesting prospect inside or in a hybrid 3-4 front. As a 4-3 defensive end, he lacks the twitch to be an impact player."

Smith thinks it's unfair that sacks are the sole number people look at when they research his statistics, and he addressed that after failing to register a sack in the first five games of this season.

"I think it’s unfair that people only think about sacks for my position," said Smith. "I get pissed off about not getting sacks, but it’s also, I drop in coverage a lot too. My responsibilities are more than just rushing the quarterback. So I mean, I impact the game in multiple ways than just rushing the quarterback. But people don’t see that, they just want outside linebacker, edge rush, they just want me to get sacks. It’s frustrating at times, it’s a long season. We’ve only played five games and I’ve been close in every game."

So far, Smith has shown to be a quality edge rusher in the NFL which is something the Packers need. Kyler Fackrell had a breakout season with 10.5 sacks, but there's no guarantee he can repeat that same success in 2019. Also, the Packers got little production from Nick Perry and Clay Matthews and both players could be gone once free agency begins.

After the 2016 season, Perry signed a five-year, $59.8 million contract. He is due a bonus of $4.8 million on March, 16 so the Packers could cut Perry and save some money.

Before the 2018 season came to an end, Perry talked about his future with the Packers.

“Look, I treat every year as a year to compete and be a team player,” Perry said when asked about his future with the Packers. “To the powers that be that have control over the situations, that’s out of my deal. If Gutey (general manager Brian Gutekunst) and everybody else wants me to be back, I’ll be back. I’m not concerned. My conscience is clear. I’m moving forward in the right direction. Yeah, we’re going to keep rolling.”

Matthews, who will officially hit free agency on Wednesday, only posted 3.5 sacks in 2018 and has not had a double-digit sack season since 2014. He had a Pro Football Focus grade of 65.3 which is ranked 59th for all edge defenders. Last year, Matthews led the Packers in sacks with 7.5 and 21 quarterback hits. In 2016, Matthews only had five sacks with nine QB hits as he only played in 12 games.

Before the Packers' final game of the 2018 season, Matthews talked about his future with the Packers and he's curious to see how things will play out this offseason.

"That's part of the business as well," Matthews said. "That's part of negotiations and figuring out contracts. A player thinks they're worth X amount and the team feels like they're worth this amount and you meet somewhere in the middle. Obviously, with my situation, this is my first time -- I'm assuming once this year's over -- being a free agent. We'll see what that means moving forward. There's a lot of things in motion with the Packers organization right now as far as head coaches and players and things like that, but we'll see down the line where it all fits and I end up."