Tag: Za’Darius Smith

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.

[lawrence-related id=114544]

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.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

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.

Trade alert: Lions to acquire EDGE Za’Darius Smith from the Browns

Trade alert: Lions to acquire EDGE Za’Darius Smith from the Browns for draft picks

After several weeks of trade rumors and suggestions flying all over the place, the Detroit Lions have indeed completed a deal. The Lions are acquiring veteran EDGE Za’Darius Smith from the Cleveland Browns ahead of Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline.

Trade details

The Lions get EDGE Za’Darius Smith and a 7th-round pick in 2026 from Cleveland

Cleveland gets Detroit’s 5th rounder in 2025 and a 6th-round pick in 2026

Smith, 32, has started all of the Browns games in the last two seasons, primarily playing the stand-up EDGE spot opposite Myles Garrett. He had five sacks in Cleveland’s first eight games after bagging 5.5 sacks in 2023.

With season-ending injuries to starters Aidan Hutchinson and Marcus Davenport, plus a preseason injury to veteran John Cominsky and recent health issues for Josh Paschal, the Lions were desperate to bring in pass-rushing help. Smith should instantly vault to the top of the EDGE depth chart for the rest of 2024. He is also under contract for 2025, though the Lions might seek to rework that deal once the trade is in the books.

NFL Trade Deadline: Lions acquire Browns DE Za’Darius Smith for playoff run

The Detroit Lions have acquired Cleveland Browns pass rusher Za’Darius Smith ahead of the NFL Trade Deadline

In a move that could make Detroit the favorites in the NFC and show that Andrew Berry is waiving the white flag, the Lions have acquired pass rusher Za’Darius Smith from the Cleveland Browns for late-round draft picks.

Smith, 32, has played for the Ravens, Packers, and Vikings and previously stated that he’d welcome a trade to Detroit since it would allow him to compete directly with two of his former teams.

Smith has five sacks in eight games this season and gives Detroit the perfect replacement for Aidan Hutchinson, who’s out with a fractured fibula.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5]

NFL Trade Deadline: Lions acquire Browns DE Za’Darius Smith for playoff run

The Detroit Lions have acquired Cleveland Browns pass rusher Za’Darius Smith ahead of the NFL Trade Deadline

In a move that could make Detroit the favorites in the NFC, the Lions have acquired pass rusher Za’Darius Smith from the Cleveland Browns for late-round draft picks.

Smith, 32, has played for the Ravens, Packers, and Vikings and previously stated that he’d welcome a trade to Detroit since it would allow him to compete directly with two of his former teams.

Smith has five sacks in eight games this season and gives Detroit the perfect replacement for Aidan Hutchinson, who’s out with a fractured fibula.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5]