Reinforcements are coming for the Green Bay Packers’ battered defensive line. In week 5, the team lost veteran Javon Hargrave for the season to a torn Achilles tendon, and the team has been dealing with a number of other injuries across the front over the course of this season, including nose tackle Jonathan Ford heading to injured reserve last week. As a result, the team’s front office has looked to the free agent market to bolster the team’s depth and has now signed a former high draft pick to the practice
squad.
That player is Mazi Smith, who was a first-round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys in 2023. Smith, who measured in at 6-foot-3 and 323 pounds at that year’s NFL Combine, played every game for Dallas over his first two seasons, recording two sacks. However, the Cowboys jettisoned him midway through the 2025 season, sending him to the New York Jets as part of their trade to acquire fellow defensive tackle Quinnen Williams.
After being released on cutdown day in August, Smith signed with the Miami Dolphins’ practice squad and was elevated for one game earlier this season, but Miami released him a week ago. Green Bay has now officially signed him to their own practice squad, releasing running back Damon Bankston to clear a spot.
Like a certain other former Packers defender who now plays for the Cowboys, Smith was an athletic marvel whose production has yet to live up to his potential. He was a top high school recruit in his home state of Michigan, but he recorded just a half-sack and six tackles for loss over parts of four seasons (two as a full-time player) for the Michigan Wolverines. In Dallas, his struggles against the run — particularly when he became a full-time starter in 2024 — were a driving force behind the Cowboys pushing to add a defensive tackle when they traded away Micah Parsons. That eventually contributed to the Packers being Parsons’ eventual destination when they agreed to send Kenny Clark to Dallas as part of the trade package.
For the time being, the Packers have just four defensive tackles on the 53-man roster: Karl Brooks, Devonte Wyatt, Chris McClellan, and Anthony Campbell. Hargrave, Ford, and Warren Brinson are all on injured reserve, while Jordon Riley appears to be getting close to returning to active duty from the PUP list. Smith now joins rookie David Blay, Jr. on the practice squad as the Packers’ depth options at defensive tackle.
