Veteran defensive end Preston Smith is the last of a dying breed in Green Bay, according to NFL data distributed by Rob Demovsky of ESPNThe Packers have only one player age 30 or older: 31-year-old defensive quarterback Preston Smith.
It’s no wonder the Packers have the fewest 30-year-old players in football. In fact, they’re the only team with fewer than three. For comparison, consider this: The Cleveland Browns lead the NFL with 14 players age 30 or older, while the San Francisco 49ers lead the NFC with 13. Eleven different teams have 10 or more players age 30 or older, and the NFL average is nearly eight players per team.
Brian Gutekunst’s roster includes two other 29-year-olds: linebacker Eric Wilson and long snapper Matt Orzech. Wilson turns 30 on Sept. 26, so Smith won’t be alone for long. Orzech doesn’t turn 30 until next April.
Last year, the Packers began the season with three players age 30 or older: Smith, David Bakhtiari and De’Vondre Campbell. Bakhtiari and Campbell were released.
The ancient saying goes that the NFL is a adolescent man’s game. The Packers are the living embodiment of that fact.
Similar to last season, the Packers are the youngest team in the NFL in terms of average age (24.91) and the least experienced team in terms of average years of experience (3.0) after Week 1 of the 2024 season.
Gutekunst needed to dig himself out of the salary cap hole caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the title chase in the final years of the Aaron Rodgers era. To do that, he trimmed the fat at the top — cutting exorbitant older players — and invested heavily in rebuilding the roster through the draft.
As a result, the Packers are once again adolescent and inexperienced, with the fewest senior players in the entire NFL.
