In what is most certainly the calm before the storm to come that is NFL free agency, there was a bit of light news on Wednesday morning when Za'Darius Smith tweeted his feelings about the years to come in his career:

I want to be a Packer for life‼️

— Za'Darius Smith (@TheRealZSmith) March 10, 2021

Yes,that's right, Za'Darius Smith wants to be in Green Bay for the rest of his career. 

And it's hard to blame him; coming off four years in Baltimore, Smith was certainly an intriguing prospect, but it's in Green Bay where he's blossomed into one of the league's premier edge defenders and one of the Packers' most consequential free agent pickups since NFL free agency began in the early 90s. 

Of course, what Smith wants and what will happen may well be different things.

Smith still is relatively young and has a lot of years left in him in the league if he continues to play at the level he's set in Green Bay. That's a whole lot of time for the Packers' situation to change, or for his play to eventually fall off.

Rarely since NFL free agency began have the Packers had any "lifers," who were drafted by the team and played their entire career there, or who were picked up as free agents, played their best years with the team and remained there for the rest of their career.

There are, of course, players like LeRoy Butler, Donald Driver, Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher who spent their entire careers in the green and gold. But there are plenty more examples of players who would have or could have been Packers lifers, had father time or the Packers front office not interfereced.

Brett Favre. Reggie White. Charles Woodson. John Kuhn. Ahman Green. Bryan Bulaga. Just a few examples of guys who spent the better part of their careers in Green Bay (or at least became faces of the franchise, in the case of White) and ended up playing elsewhere at the ends of their careers.

Even a guy like Aaron Rodgers, who's nearing the end of his career and playing MVP caliber football, cannot be guaranteed to end his career in Green Bay.

So for now, place the chances at "very low" that Smith will actually be a Packer for life.

That being said, it's still great to see star players put this out into the universe. It's not that long ago, really, that Green Bay was seen as the league's worst destination for free agents, especially for black players. Several decades of winning will do a lot to rehab that image, and while there are still plenty of players who will chose the glamor of bigger media markets over small town Green Bay, there also seem to be more players who have an appreciation for the town and for the franchise.

Regardless of what happens, I'm looking forward to seeing Smith's continued ascent here in Green Bay. The type of leadership and energy he brought to these defense was sorely needed, and he's going to be its engine for years to come.