He’s No Aidan Hutchinson, But Za’Darius Smith Is What Detroit Needed
The 2024 NFL trade deadline has come and gone, and it proved to be a surprisingly busy day in comparison to the standard set in football.
Of all the entertainment categories football seems to lead nationwide, the trade deadline never seems to be one of them compared to basketball, baseball, and hockey. This is due mostly to the difficulty of most position groups to learn a new system midseason, the heightened value of draft picks compared to other sports, and the difficulty of staying under the cap.
This trade deadline, and the weeks leading up to the end date, did not disappoint, as several key names were moved ahead of November 5th.
The most impactful move may not take as many headlines as some of the wide receiver trades seen league-wide, but the Lions trade for Za'Darius Smith could be the type of transaction being discussed in February ahead of Super Bowl LIX.
The ageless wonder goes from AFC North to NFC North, all for the price of a 2025 fifth-round and 2026 sixth-round pick.
Smith was in year one of his two-year, $23 million contract with the Cleveland Browns, which was structured in a way that allowed the Browns to ask for more trade capital than a traditional pass rusher may be worth.
Of the $23 million, $10.79 came in the form of a signing bonus, and $12 million fully guaranteed. This left just $605,000 as Smith's base salary which would count against the cap.
Fortunately for the Lions, who currently have the 5th-largest cap space in the NFL with $26.7 million remaining, they were not handcuffed into only being in the market for Smith when there were several other edge rusher options on the market.
That being said, it would be difficult to find an NFL owner who is trying to find a way to fill up more of his cap space.
So, if the reason Detroit went after Smith was not because he was a more affordable option, what made him so appealing to General Manager Brad Holmes? For one, it is his consistency.
The second-year member of the Cleveland Browns just continues to produce over his career.
He has already surpassed 5 sacks this year, alongside 6 tackles for losses and 7 quarterback hits. By reaching 5 sacks already in 2024, Smith has now collected 5 or more sacks in every season he has been healthy since 2017.
While he has received the benefit of being on the other side of Myles Garrett the past two seasons, Smith has been able to produce north of eight sack seasons for four different teams, proving his versatility as a pass rusher.
Compared to the other edge rushers moved at the deadline (Preston Smith, Baron Browning, and Josh Uche), Smith is more of a difference-maker for the defensive line while being on the field more consistently than other rumored options like Maxx Crosby and Azeez Ojulari.
So, the 7-1 Detroit Lions, who have led the best offense in the NFL for the first half of the season, seemed to be lacking that difference maker after losing Aidan Hutchinson. Despite this lack of a team pass rush, as the Lions rank 20th in the league in total sacks (with Hutchinson accounting for 7.5 of them), they still have the 5th-best defense in terms of points allowed.
Since the Lions only have one defensive lineman with over 2 sacks on the campaign, Smith is likely going to see his per-game production decrease when joining Detroit's defensive unit. The Lions are likely not anticipating his current level of product by trading for the veteran, instead, they are utilizing him to change their defensive looks and matchups for the rest of the defensive line.
Now, players like Alim McNeil, Levi Onmuzurike, and the linebacker committee will see more on-one opportunities, and allow their talented secondary to be more aggressive without the risk of quarterbacks being too comfortable in the pocket.
It is the type of move that could make all the difference come the playoffs, and it was the exact move Detroit was looking to pull off to avoid overpaying and replace the value they lost after losing their number one overall pick for the season.
