Tag: Za’Darius Smith

Film Study: Lions new DE Za’Darius Smith is a near-perfect fit for the Lions defense

Film Study: Lions new DE Za’Darius Smith is a near-perfect fit for the Lions defense

It’s been a few weeks in the making but the Detroit Lions finally made the trade with the Cleveland Browns for Za’Darius Smith. Adding the talented defensive end was much needed after the Lions lost Aidan Hutchinson for the season due to his leg injury.

With this addition, the Lions are getting a veteran defender that has started more than 80 games in his career. During that time, he has over 300 tackles and 65 sacks. The former 4th round pick from the 2015 NFL Draft has found success playing for the Baltimore Ravens, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns.

Currently, Smith is playing on a 2-year contract worth a total of $23 million dollars. For the Lions, most of that money has been paid out from the Browns so currently, Smith will count as a $605,000 cap hit for the Lions (per Spotrac). There is an option for the Lions to let him go after the season, if it isn’t a fit and it wouldn’t cost them anything in dead cap money. If the Lions decided to bring him back for 2025 to pair with Hutchinson, it would only cost them a cap hit of $5.4 million dollars.

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So, the tenured player has been a productive player and has more than a reasonable contract for the Lions. But what does he bring to the team? Let’s jump into some film to see what Smith will provide the Lions defense moving forward!

 

During the absence of Hutchinson, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn has done a good job getting creative to generate pressure. Whether it be blitzing from all angles or designing a variation of line stunts, Glenn is doing whatever he can to form some type of pass rush.

Now his job gets somewhat easier to execute that game plan with the addition of Za’Darius Smith. Looking at the play above, you’ll see Za’Darius Smith (Browns DE 99) executing a T/E stunt for the Browns defense last season against the Texans.

Watch as he loops inside; he has more than enough speed and burst to get through the hole and close to the quarterback. Fortunately for the quarterback, he’s able to get the pass the ball while throwing off his back foot. However, it’s 3rd-and-long, and it’s one of those plays where Smith interrupts the timing, and it could lead to a sack or turnover. Adding that to a defense that is 2nd in the NFL with 11 interceptions on defense could do wonders for this unit.

 

Jumping into some tape from this year, one thing that immediately stood out with Smith is how he provides alignment versatility. He can play in a wide-9, tilt-5 and pretty much anywhere else a defensive coordinator wants to put him.

Looking at the play above, you’ll see Smith (Browns DE 99) align standing up over the right tackle as a 5-technique. However, he’s aimed or tilted towards the right guard. As he goes to rip across the face of the right guard, his pad level is a bit too high but he does his job by collapsing the middle as an interior pass rusher.

This works perfectly as there’s an outside rush from two defenders with wide alignments. This forces the quarterback to step up in the pocket and this is where he’s met by Smith for the sack.

 

Lastly, I want to highlight Smith’s ability to stop the run. Looking at the play above from a game against the Ravens this year, we’ll see Smith (Browns DE 99) is aligned over the tight end to the right of the formation.

Once the ball is snapped, Smith displays good burst while being able to rip across the face of the tight end. In the process, he bends down the line-of-scrimmage and helps make the tackle.

Having Smith present on the Lions defensive line won’t just help with generating a pass rush. He will also assist in stopping the run and teams will have to find ways to block him.

Overall, this deal had to be done by the Lions. They needed help up front for their defense and they should get it moving forward. So far this season, Smith has played 324 defensive snaps (per PFF).

This has led to 5 sacks and 27 pressures for Smith this season. From PFF, he’s earned a 73.6 overall grade and a 71.1 pass rush grade. Certainly, Smith is not graded as highly as Aidan Hutchinson but he will enter as the highest graded edge defender that is active on the team right now.

Pairing Smith with Alim McNeill, DJ Reader, Josh Paschal and the rest of their defensive line combinations should do wonders for this Lions defense. Having a defensive end that can turn speed-to-power, align anywhere on the line-of-scrimmage and execute the designed line stunts will be impactful. This move was the correct one by the Lions franchise and it should pay off in a big way for the next year and a half.

Lions stand pat at NFL trade deadline after the Za’Darius Smith deal

Lions GM Brad Holmes was unable to pull off any other trades at the deadline after acquiring Za’Darius Smith

The NFL trade deadline hit at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday with no fresh news involving the Detroit Lions. GM Brad Holmes and the Lions made their move hours earlier on Tuesday morning in acquiring EDGE Za’Darius Smith from the Cleveland Browns in exchange for two Day 3 draft picks.

Other teams made some moves around the league, but none of the big-name pass rushers like Myles Garrett or Maxx Crosby were traded. Nor was NFL sack leader Trey Hendrickson of the Bengals, a team that was a buyer at the trade deadline for just the second time since 1970.

None of the more realistic Lions targets wound up being dealt, either. Azeez Ojulari remains with the Giants, with New York apparently wanting too much in return for any other team to nibble. Chase Young and Carl Granderson are still New Orleans Saints, as unlikely as a Lions trade for either player might have been. Arden Key and Harold Landry stuck with the Titans, too.

Detroit lacked significant draft capital to make some minor moves, having already traded away next year’s third-round and fourth-round picks in trades made during the 2024 NFL Draft.

Nor did the Lions trade away any players, as expected. The injuries across the defensive line made any concept of dealing someone like James Houston or Isaiah Thomas prohibitive.

Lions add new DE before Week 10 matchup vs. Texans

The Detriot Lions are adding in a defensive end just in time to face off against the Houston Texans in Week 10 on Sunday Night Football.

The Houston Texans must prepare for the Detroit Lions, but must also study some Cleveland Browns’ defensive line tape.

The Lions acquired Za’Darius Smith in a trade with the AFC North franchise early Tuesday morning, adding a veteran pass rusher to their defense just a few hours before the 3 p.m. 2024 NFL trade deadline.

Smith, who’s racked up five sacks in nine games this season, is expected to be good to go when the Lions (7-1) take on the Texans (6-3) on Sunday Night Football in Week 10.

Smith, 32, has been a constant No. 2 option in the pass-rushing department over his decade in the Pros. The three-time Pro Bowler has 65 career sacks over the past 10 seasons with the Browns, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Ravens.

Houston’s offensive line should at least know what to expect from Smith since Laremy Tunsil, Juice Scruggs and Shaq Mason went head-to-head with him twice down the stretch last season, including in the AFC Wild Card Round. Smith recorded two sacks on Christmas Eve against Case Keenum in the Browns’ 36-22 win during the regular season.

The Texans had the last laugh after taking him out of the game in a 45-14 win the following month in the wild-card matchup at home.

The Lions, winners of six straight and NFC favorites, have struggled to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks since Defensive Player of the Year candidate Aidan Hutchinson broke the tibia and fibula in his left leg in a Week 6 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Hutchinson was the star player, but not the only defender to sustain a season-ending injury, as fellow edge rusher Marcus Davenport suffered a knee injury last month. Detriot has recorded five other quarterback hits by defensive linemen in the past two games.

Houston’s offensive line could be in trouble if Smith starts hot. The Texans have allowed the second-most sacks (31) and the fourth-most pressures (89) through nine games this season.

“We have to be at our best at all times,” offensive lineman Tytus Howard said Monday. “We see everybody and hear everybody talk. We just have to be better because, at the end of the day, if we do our job, they don’t any reason to be talking about us.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. The game will be nationally televised on NBC.

Za’Darius Smith contract gives the Lions options with their new EDGE

Za’Darius Smith’s current 2-year contract gives the Lions options with their new EDGE

The Detroit Lions have a new pass rusher on the defense in EDGE Za’Darius Smith. Lions GM Brad Holmes pulled the trigger on a trade that sends two Day 3 picks to the Cleveland Browns for the 32-year-old Smith, plus a 2026 seventh-round pick, in return.

Smith should play extensively as the most accomplished pass rusher on the Lions roster. And he comes affordable for the rest of the 2024 season; Detroit is responsible for just $605,000 for the remainder of this year, with the Browns eating over $4.5 million in dead cap room.

The rest of Smith’s two-year, $23 million contract that runs through 2025 is now Detroit’s responsibility, and it’s a little complex. That’s because there are some options and void years that complicate it, though the Lions have options and control over how to handle them.

Smith has a base salary of a very affordable $1.2 million for the 2025 season and it’s not guaranteed. However, there is a $2 million bonus due on the third day of the 2025 NFL calendar. There is also a per-game bonus of $510,000 baked into the contract, as well as four void years at the end of Smith’s contract.

The Lions can keep the contract as-is, but that seems unlikely given the higher cap hits that assuming the void years and bonus structure creates: $5.4 million in 2025 and $5.6 million in 2026.

Because nothing is guaranteed after the 2024 season, the Lions could walk away from that deal, cut Smith and take on no dead cap room. They could also agree to a new deal with Smith in the offseason, one that would provide some guaranteed money to the defensive end but less long-term cap hit to make a more appealing contractual marriage for 2025. That, of course, depends on how well Smith fits into the Lions culture and defense for the rest of the 2024 campaign.

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What they’re saying about Za’Darius Smith trade for the Detroit Lions

What they’re saying about Za’Darius Smith trade for the Detroit Lions around the world wide web

The Detroit Lions found their edge rusher to fill the Aidan Hutchinson void by acquiring Za’Darius Smith from the Cleveland Browns. Fans and the media seemed quite pleased with the addition as the Lions make their Super Bowl push.

Here are a few thoughts from across social media on the move and the newest member of the Pride.

 

 

 

 

 

What 2025 NFL draft picks do the Browns own after trading Za’Darius Smith?

After trading Za’Darius Smith to the Lions, here is every 2025 NFL draft pick the Browns now have control of

The Cleveland Browns are turning the page on their season and toward the 2025 NFL draft after trading away Za’Darius Smith to the Detriot Lions.

Smith becomes the second veteran to be traded this season, following wide receiver Amari Cooper. In exchange for Smith and a seventh-round pick, the Browns received back a 2025 fifth-round pick and a sixth-round pick the following year.

The Browns now sit with 11 draft picks in the upcoming class as they are hoping to not rebuild, but reload. In a weak draft class and free agency crop, turning those Day 3 picks into veteran players, like they did Cooper and Smith in recent years, is firmly on the table.

Here is every pick the Browns now own after the trade of Smith. Could they add even more before 4PM strikes?

  • First Round Pick
  • Second Round Pick
  • Third Round Pick
  • Third Round Pick (via BUF/Amari Cooper trade)
  • Fourth Round Pick
  • Fifth Round Pick (via DET/Za’Darius Smith trade)
  • Sixth Round Pick
  • Sixth Round Pick (via MIA)
  • Sixth Round Pick (via MIN)
  • Sixth Round Pick (projected compensatory pick)
  • Seventh Round Pick (projected compensatory pick)

AFC North rival trades away star DE at deadline

The Cleveland Browns have traded away their star DE Za’Darius Smith to the Detroit Lions at the trade deadline.

While three-quarters of the AFC North continue to build up their rosters for potential playoff runs, the Cleveland Browns appear to be selling their 2024 seasonal aspirations, as the team has traded away one of their star players at the trade deadline.

Cleveland is sending DE Za’Darius Smith and a 2026 seventh-round draft pick to the Detroit Lions in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round and a 2026 sixth-round draft pick, per insider Ian Rapoport.

Considering how talented and established Smith is off the edge, the Lions have been gifted the deal of a lifetime. Detroit was in dire need of an edge rusher, as their elite DE Aiden Hutchinson suffered a season-ending broken left tibia in Week 6.

Will Cleveland continue to sell their 2024 roster as the 4:00 PM EST deadline inches ever closer? While it appears to be another case of Juju Smith-Schuster’s infamous line, ‘the Browns is the Browns,’ Pittsburgh is likely laser-focused on the trade deadline themselves, as the team has been linked to both wide receiver trade targets and defensive depth in recent days.

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Za’Darius Smith trade grades: Who won the Lions-Browns deal?

The Lions got a proven pass rusher, but can Smith thrive without Myles Garrett next to him?

The Detroit Lions needed defensive reinforcements. Aidan Hutchinson’s broken leg left the team’s edge rushing punchless. Despite wins in Weeks 8 and 9, the Lions managed just a single sack in that span.

The Cleveland Browns needed draft assets. Cleveland’s 2024 was declared a write-off somewhere around the moment the franchise traded for Deshaun Watson, even if we didn’t know it at the time. At 2-7, the hopes of repeating last season’s playoff appearance had been effectively distinguished.

This made the two sides obvious dance partners. Roughly eight hours before the 2024 NFL trade deadline, they tangoed. Veteran edge rusher Za’Darius Smith moved north for a 2025 fifth round selection and a late-draft swap come 2026.

Let’s make some snap judgments about the deal.

The Za’Darius Smith trade details

  • Lions get: EDGE Za’Darius Smith, 2026 seventh round pick
  • Browns get: 2025 fifth round pick, 2026 sixth round pick

Lions grade

Smith isn’t the game changer Hutchinson was, but he’s a rock solid veteran who can fill a gap at a low cost. Cleveland was reportedly asking for a fourth round selection, but instead settled for a fifth and a 2026 late-round pick swap. In exchange, the Lions get a former Pro Bowler who can start in their 2024 playoff push and settle into a rotational role in 2026 if necessary.

Smith’s five sacks are 2.5 more than any healthy player on the Detroit roster, but they’re a bit of a mirage. They came alongside only seven quarterback hits, which suggests he’s been more lucky than consistent — for example, he had 5.5 sacks in 2023 on 20 QB hits, which was unlucky, and 10 sacks on 24 QB hits in 2022, which is roughly what you’d expect. His eight quick pressures (under three seconds) rank 40th among NFL pass rushers this fall. This furthers the idea he’s a good, but not quite great, addition.

Fortunately, the Lions don’t need great. They’ve got a boatload of talent across the board. What they need is someone who can get to the quarterback after logging only a single sack the last two games. That’s Smith. The question now is whether he can continue to succeed in a defense that doesn’t have Myles Garrett creating nightmares on the opposite corner.

Grade: B+

Browns grade

Cleveland’s brief foray into respectability ended in Week 9 thanks to a stomping from the Los Angeles Chargers. That made Smith an obvious candidate to depart.

This will be a bummer for Garrett, who continues to be an absolute headache for opponents but now has to trudge through the Browns’ 2024 swamp without Smith or emerging linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who was placed on injured reserve with a neck injury. With those two gone, there isn’t another non-interior lineman on the Cleveland roster with more than four quarterback pressures this season.

But it’s tough to worry about another hole in the hull when the Browns had already scuttled this ship. The return could have been better, but it’s still solid enough. Cleveland got draft assets for a roster that badly needs inexpensive starters around Watson’s fully guaranteed contract to be the NFL’s 37th-best quarterback after more than 20 accusations of sexual misconduct and what the NFL itself described as “predatory behavior.” This is a tear down, so losing a support beam like Smith isn’t a big deal.

Grade: B

Za’Darius Smith: What the Lions are getting in their new EDGE

Breaking down new Detroit Lions EDGE Za’Darius Smith and what the Lions are getting in the veteran pass rusher

The Detroit Lions traded to bring in veteran EDGE Za’Darius Smith from the Cleveland Browns. Adding Smith helps stabilize a Detroit defensive line that has lost both starting EDGEs for the season and also other key reserves at times in recent weeks, leaving the Lions pass rush anemically thin.

Smith is probably a familiar name to Lions fans after he spent the 2019-2021 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, and then also played the 2022 season in Minnesota. He hit double-digit sacks in all three seasons where he played, missing all but one game of the 2021 campaign with a back injury.

Smith openly chastised the Packers organization for how they handled his injury, going so far as to sign with the Vikings specifically to play against Green Bay twice a year. That’s a good peek at the mindset Smith brings into Detroit.

What the Lions are getting in Za’Darius Smith

Smith is an ideal athletic fit for what the Lions covet in an EDGE. The 32-year-old is 6-foot-4 and 275 pounds and can play either standing up or with a hand in the dirt on either side of the formation. In Cleveland the last two seasons, with Jim Schwartz as his defensive coordinator, Smith has primarily played standing up on the side opposite Myles Garrett.

Smith can still “crush the can” as a pass rusher, blasting off the line into the tackle and driving into the backfield. His powerful arms allow him to push off the tackle and make a secondary move to either side. Similar to now-injured Lions starter Marcus Davenport, Smith has enough lateral quickness to help lure a blocker off-balance with a step or a shoulder feign and then the strength to capitalize off it.

He’s probably lost a half-step of quickness and closing burst in the last couple of seasons. That could be more of an issue in Detroit than it was in playing with Myles Garrett, because the Lions lack the finisher to terminate a pressure Smith creates but can’t finish on his own. This play from Week 8 is a good example; Smith (No. 99 at LDE) creates the sack for a teammate:

 

Still, Smith has five sacks on the season, including one of Chargers QB Justin Herbert on Sunday. If he gets a paw on the QB (or RB in the backfield), the play typically ends. It is worth noting that his missed tackle rate has spiked up in the last two seasons; per PFF it’s currently above 21 percent in 2024.

He’s been lauded for his leadership at every stop along the way, going back to his time with the Baltimore Ravens. Smith began his career in Baltimore as a fourth-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. Like current Lions EDGE Josh Paschal, Smith played collegiately at Kentucky.

Expect Smith to start right away and play full-time reps as the new primary EDGE pass rusher in Detroit. As a side benefit, that means players like Paschal and Al-Quadin Muhammad are going to be relied upon for less.

 

Browns trade Za’Darius Smith to the Lions for draft picks

The Browns trade starting EDGE Za’Darius Smith to the Lions for draft picks

The long-standing rumors proved correct in this case. The Cleveland Browns have traded EDGE Za’Darius Smith to the Detroit Lions hours ahead of the NFL’s trade deadline.

The trade

Cleveland sends Za’Darius Smith and a 2026 7th-round pick to the Lions in exchange for a 5th-round pick in 2025 and a 6th-round pick in 2026.

The Browns add a couple of later-round picks from Detroit to unload Smith, a starter in 25 games in the last season and a half in Cleveland. The 32-year-old played well, bagging five sacks in nine games in 2024–including one in the Browns Week 9 loss to the Chargers.

As an older but still effective player with a contract that could be moved, Smith proved a popular trade target.