Tag: Za’Darius Smith

Former Packers OLB Za’Darius Smith visiting Vikings

Former Green Bay Packers edge rusher Za’Darius Smith is in Minnesota to visit the Vikings on Monday, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Smith was released by the Packers earlier this month. He had a deal with the Baltimore Ravens but backed out, …

Former Green Bay Packers edge rusher Za’Darius Smith is in Minnesota to visit the Vikings on Monday, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

Smith was released by the Packers earlier this month. He had a deal with the Baltimore Ravens but backed out, keeping him available in free agency.

A reunion with outside linebackers coach Mike Smith and coordinator Mike Petrine would be possible in Minnesota, plus the opportunity to play the Packers twice a year.

Smith, an All-Pro in 2020, hurt his back last season and missed all but one game. Between the 2019 and 2020 seasons, Smith delivered 26.0 sacks and 60 quarterback hits.

In Minnesota, Smith could team with Danielle Hunter to give the Vikings a dynamic pass-rushing duo.

If the visit goes well, Smith could sign on Monday.

The Packers had to release Smith to save money on the cap. His cap number was going to be almost $28 million in 2022.

Details emerge surrounding failed deal between Ravens and OLB Za’Darius Smith

Details have emerged surrounding what happened between the Ravens and OLB Za’Darius Smith

After signing safety Marcus Williams and offensive tackle Morgan Moses during the second day of 2022 free agency, the Baltimore Ravens apparently made another big splash the day after, as it reported that the team and former Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith had agreed on a four-year, $35 million deal that would be worth up to $50 millon. However, Smith then backed out of the deal the next day, sending Baltimore back to the drawing board.

Many have wondered why a reunion between the Ravens and Smith ended up not working out after things appeared to be at the finish line. Details have emerged about the situation and what led to Smith getting cold feet. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk revealed that the outside linebacker and Baltimore had struck a deal on two separate occasions, only for Smith and his agent to come back to the team a third time with a new contract proposal, to which the Ravens passed on. Florio detailed what happened after the first deal was agreed upon.

“…Smith and his agent then proposed a different deal to the Ravens. The Ravens accepted the revised terms. They were then told that Smith would make a decision the next day…The next day, Smith and his agent proposed a dramatically different deal. The Ravens passed, and that was that.”

Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network relayed that one of the reasons why the deal fell apart was due to Von Miller and Chandler Jones signing lucrative contracts with the Buffalo Bills and Las Vegas Raiders, respectively.

“The deal then fell apart after Von Miller (six years, $120 million) and Chandler Jones (three years, $51 million) signed bigger free agency contracts. That is believed to be a factor in Smith’s decision to not rejoin the Ravens, per league sources.”

In a matter of hours, Baltimore went from having a premier No. 1 pass rushing option to having to look for other options. At the moment Smith still has yet to sign, but once he does it wouldn’t be shocking to see him asked plenty of questions about his deal that never was with the Ravens in his first media appearance.

Ravens re-sign FB Patrick Ricard to three-year deal

The Baltimore Ravens re-signed fullback Patrick Ricard to a three-year deal

Over the course of 2022 free agency, the Baltimore Ravens have made moves to improve their roster. After bringing in multiple outside free agents in safety Marcus Williams, offensive tackle Morgan Moses and defensive tackle Michael Pierce, Baltimore re-signed one of their own.

On Monday, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported that Baltimore had re-signed fullback Patrick Ricard to a three-year deal. The Ravens’ official Twitter account confirmed the news, saying that the team had agreed to terms with the Pro Bowl fullback.

Ricard signed with the Ravens in 2017 as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Maine and has been an important part of Baltimore’s offense over the last few years. Known as “Project Pat”, Ricard can line up all over the field and perform multiple duties at a high level.

In 70 career games for the Ravens, Ricard has caught 29 passes for 167 yards and five touchdowns. He’s primarily been used for blocking, but at times will get the ball in his hands. Ricard should resume his very busy role in Baltimore’s offense, something he’s become very good at.

4 recently cut players the Cardinals should be interested in

The Cardinals have not been active in free agency and appear to be protecting comp picks. These four players fill needs and would not affect comp picks for next year.

The Arizona Cardinals have not been active in acquiring outside free agents. Their one outside signing was cornerback Jeff Gladney.

The Cardinals appear to be angling to get compensatory picks in next year’s draft like they received this year. One way to do that is by signing players who have been released. When a player is signed after getting released before the end of their contract, it doesn’t count towards the compensatory formula.

A few recently released players should garner interest from the Cardinals. Whether they will or not is uncertain, but they all fill critical needs the roster has.

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Former Packers OLB Za’Darius Smith not signing with Ravens

Former Packers outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith will not sign with the Ravens after a deal was reported

The Baltimore Ravens have had a rather eventful 2022 free agency so far. After not making a move over the first 24 hours of the legal tampering period, the team signed safety Marcus Williams and offensive tackle Morgan Moses. Then the next day they reportedly agreed to a contract with outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith.

However, it is now being reported that Smith is not signing with Baltimore The whole situation seems to be quite complicated, but it appears as if Smith will re-assess his options and see if he can get more money than the initially agreed upon four-year, $35 million deal between him and the Ravens.

Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic reported that Baltimore felt that they had a verbal agreement with Smith, but the outside linebacker changed his mind.

It’s possible that Smith saw how much money Chandler Jones and Von Miller got from the Las Vegas Raiders and Buffalo Bills, respectively and thought he could get more money than what he originally agreed upon with the Ravens. Pass rush now jumps to the top of Baltimore’s needs list again, and the team will continue to look at all of their options.

NFL players are right to back out of verbal deals during this year’s free agency

NFL also stands for “Not For Long.” Free agents definitely have that in mind.

Once millions of dollars start flying around, it can be easy to forget that NFL free agents don’t have to sign on the dotted line because they said they will. Like any person with a regular job, they are still playing the open market.

Verbal agreements are just that: Verbal, non-binding and an open opportunity to seek more compensation if you see your talented pals around the league getting bigger bags of cash.

Nowhere do we have a better reminder of player choice and leverage than this year’s free agency period. Three separate players — J.D. McKissic, Randy Gregory and Za’Darius Smith — have now backed out of deals they said they would sign. Gregory went from re-upping to Dallas to join the Broncos. McKissic pivoted on the Bills and returned to Washington.

But Smith, once set to join Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, encapsulates a clear and welcome trend.

Aside from the awkward tweet deletions from social media teams meaning to promote “their” new players, it’s worth highlighting what three separate professionals reneging on their word means.

Players are right to leverage what minimal power they have as free agents, given the limitations of the CBA. Until you’re officially on someone’s books, play the field as much as possible. In a professional sports league where one injury potentially means the end of your career (and cash flow), you’d be silly not to.

From that perspective, it’s also great that McKissic, Gregory and Smith — three guys in their late 20s who might never see another big NFL contract — happen to be the three case studies. Each tells us something different about the “commitment” of free agency.

First, there’s McKissic. After he was apparently on his way to the Super Bowl favorite Bills on a two-year, $7 million contract, he had a change of heart. He instead stayed in Washington on the same exact terms. Huh? Let me connect the dots for you.

The Bills live and die with Josh Allen’s cybernetic arm. They’re going to throw the ball. A lot. They have one of pro football’s best complements of offensive firepower and already have an established hierarchy of options. If you’re a multi-purpose platoon back like McKissic, who needs to touch the ball often to show your value, it makes more sense to return to the pop-gun Commanders, so you have options when you hit the open market again in a couple of years. Sometimes, it’s about more than signing with a better team. Sometimes, it’s where you, personally, can fare better.

Next, in Gregory’s situation, the Broncos also, quite literally, gave the 29-year-old pass rusher what the Cowboys did.

Five years. $70 million. $28 million guaranteed. That’s weird. What is happening? It doesn’t add up. Oh, wait. The Cowboys reportedly “protected” themselves too much with their version of Gregory’s contract — in that there was likely some sort of easier means to back out of their commitment.

Yeah, I probably wouldn’t sign a contract where my boss could potentially fire me on a whim the moment I tore my ACL or ankle up, either. Like Gregory, I would prefer more security. To each, their own, am I right?

Finally, in Smith’s situation, he saw the forest for the trees. The Ravens gave him $45 million over three years. An amicable agreement for a veteran released by Green Bay. But then some of his edge pass rush contemporaries, Von Miller and Chandler Jones, signed for considerably more. Uh-oh. The writing was on the wall.

Or I guess it wasn’t. And so it’s back into the free-agent pool for Smith, who had unwittingly low-balled himself.

What McKissic, Gregory and Smith are showing during this free agency is a relatively simple concept: Until the ink is on the paper and dry, no one is under any obligation to “honor” their agreements. Get your money and stability whenever you can, especially in a league predicated on putting your body through hell.

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Former Packers OLB Za’Darius Smith no longer signing with Ravens

Former Green Bay Packers edge rusher Za’Darius Smith isn’t headed back to Baltimore after all. The veteran pass rusher is no longer signing with the Ravens, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Smith was expected to make his return to the team …

Former Green Bay Packers edge rusher Za’Darius Smith isn’t headed back to Baltimore after all. The veteran pass rusher is no longer signing with the Ravens, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Smith was expected to make his return to the team that drafted him after agreeing to a four-year deal worth $35 million with a maximum value of $50 million. The Ravens drafted Smith in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft but chose not to re-sign Smith after his rookie contract expired.

During the 2019 offseason, Green Bay signed Smith to a four-year, $66 million contract. Smith’s play took off as he became a key member of the Packers’ defense. He totaled 107 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, and 26 sacks in his first two seasons, which led to two Pro Bowls and a second-team All-Pro in 2020.

Unfortunately, a back injury limited Smith to just one game in 2021. This led to his release from Green Bay on top of salary cap limitations.

It is unknown what caused the deal with the Ravens to fall through, but Smith is now a free agent. He is a top edge rusher available and is expected to have a strong market.

Za’Darius Smith should be Rams’ top free-agent target after Ravens deal falls through

Za’Darius Smith isn’t signing with the Ravens, and the Rams should make him their top free-agent target

In a somewhat surprising turn of events, Von Miller inked a deal with the Buffalo Bills on the first day of the new league year. With Miller headed to the Bills, the Los Angeles Rams may have been gifted a chance to replace him with a formidable edge rusher who has suddenly become available on the open market (again).

After agreeing to a deal to return to the Baltimore Ravens, Za’Darius Smith has now changed his mind and will consider other options.

We’ve seen multiple players now change their minds this offseason, but this one should immediately interest the Rams. The reported deal between Smith and the Ravens was four years for a total of $35 million, so he should much more affordable than Miller.

Smith has spent the past three years with the Green Bay Packers, where he tallied 12.5-plus sacks in 2019 and 2020, forcing five fumbles in that span. Just this past season, Smith was limited to one game for the Packers due to a back injury that required surgery.

At 29 years old, Smith now becomes the best option for the Rams following the departure of Miller in free agency. Replacing Miller is easier said than done, but getting a two-time Pro Bowler does soften the blow a bit.

The edge-rusher market is beginning to become extremely thin and Los Angeles should elect to bring in some reinforcements instead of staying in-house to address their pass-rushing department. Even though it would have been exciting to see Miller play a full season alongside Aaron Donald following a Super Bowl win, you don’t get many chances to sign a talent like Smith.

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Grading the Ravens’ signing of OLB Za’Darius Smith

We grade the Ravens’ signing of outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith

The Baltimore Ravens continue to make splash moves in 2022 free agency as they look to improve their roster in any way that they can. They signed safety Marcus Williams and offensive tackle Morgan Moses on Day 2, and didn’t stop there, as on Day 3 they reunited with outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith on a four-year, $35 million deal that can be worth up to $50 million.

Smith spent the first four seasons of his NFL career in Baltimore, but signed a big-money deal with the Green Bay Packers during the 2019 offseason. He turned himself into one of the best pass rushers in the entire NFL. However, he missed all but one game in 2021 due to a back injury.

The Ravens needed some more juice in the pass rushing department, and Smith gives them just that. The veteran outside linebacker has accumulated 227 combined tackles to go along with 44.5 career sacks. He’s also a versatile chess piece, and can line up in multiple places on the defensive line.

Smith also brings a veteran presence to an edge rusher room that is relatively young at the moment. Odafe Oweh and Daelin Hayes are entering their second years in the NFL, Jaylon Ferguson is entering his fourth, and Tyus Bower will be going into his sixth. Smith can become a leader in that room and hand out some valuable advice to his new teammates.

Getting Smith for $9 million average annual value is a steal for the Ravens. Even if he ends up making the full $50 million on his contract, his production when he’s healthy is worth the contract that Baltimore shelled out for him. One of the only ways that this deal can backfire for the Ravens is if Smith isn’t able to be on the field consistently due to injury. Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta has not been shy about spending to improve his roster this offseason, and that should pay off for him in the short and long term.

Grade: A

Ravens reportedly signing OLB Za’Darius Smith

The Ravens have reportedly signed outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith

After a quiet Day 1 of 2022 free agency, the Baltimore Ravens have made plenty of splashes over the course of Days 2 and 3. They signed safety Marcus Williams and offensive tackle Morgan Moses on Tuesday, and on Wednesday they didn’t stop adding impact players.

Baltimore’s latest signing is reportedly former Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith. Adam Schefter of ESPN dropped the news shortly after the new league year started, saying that the deal is a four-year, $35 million contract that has a maximum value of $50 million.