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

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For The Win (usatoday.com) 

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