Detroit Lions Linked to Reunion With $23 Million Pass Rusher

The Detroit Lions‘ most glaring hole on either side of the football is on the edge of the defense opposite star Aidan Hutchinson, and the team is likely to make some kind of move to add a pass rusher before the regular season begins approximately one month from now.

Detroit had to add help on the edge ahead of last year’s trade deadline after Hutchinson suffered a season-ending leg fracture in Week 5. The Lions landed on a deal with the Cleveland Browns for defensive end Za’Darius Smith.

Smith played adequately down the stretch, helping Detroit to a second consecutive NFC North Division title and a second straight trip to the playoffs. He became an unrestricted free agent once the year concluded.

Now Smith is back on the Lions’ radar as he approaches his 11th professional campaign, according an interview that 97.1 The Ticket conducted with Detroit general manager Brad Holmes on Wednesday, August 6.

“We said we’re going to keep in contact with his agent, but everything is not just one-sided. Za’Darius has expectations, the team has expectations, so sometimes it takes a while for those things to get on the same page — especially [with] a guy that’s been in the league as long as he has,” Holmes said. “I’m not saying that he doesn’t want to be in training camp. But if he misses some time, there’s obviously still interest there, and we’ve been keeping in touch.”

Za’Darius Smith Among Most Skilled, Accomplished Edge Rushers in NFL Heading Into 11th Season

GettyEdge rusher Za’Darius Smith, formerly of the Detroit Lions.

Smith is coming off a two-year deal worth $23 million. And while he isn’t 100 percent the same player who made three Pro Bowl appearances in four seasons between 2019-22, Smith still gets after opposing quarterbacks exceptionally well, which is an important and expensive skill to possess in the NFL.

He finished last season with nine sacks total, five in Cleveland and four in Detroit over the final eight games. Pro Football Focus rated Smith the 33rd-best edge rusher in the league last year out of 211 players who saw enough snaps to qualify. He was an even better pure pass rusher, as PFF’s advanced metrics ranked him 21st in that specific category.

Smith will turn 33 years old in the coming campaign, but he remains capable of shouldering a solid workload. He played in 58% of the possible snaps for Cleveland’s defense in 2024, and upped that to 60% after coming over to Detroit.

Smith suffered a serious back injury in 2021 that kept him out of all but one regular-season contest. However, he followed that campaign up with a 10-sack performance for the Minnesota Vikings and has missed just two games total over the past three years.

Lions, Za’Darius Smith Probably Hung Up to Degree on Length of Contract, Total Guaranteed Money

GettyFormer Detroit Lions defensive lineman Za’Darius Smith.

Neither Detroit or Smith, who indicated his desire to return to the team earlier this summer, has been specific with details of their contract negotiations — if the process has even progressed to that point.

That said, it’s a reasonable guess that the two sides will need to hash out the issues of years and total guaranteed money more so than coming to a compromise on annual average contract value. A player of Smith’s caliber and age might still command a two-year contract with some guaranteed money in Year 2 of the deal, particularly given how badly the Lions need what he can offer.

However, it isn’t unreasonable for Detroit to want to protect itself to some degree against future injury and/or a drop off in production for a player who now has a decade of NFL service under his belt.

Spotrac has no market value listed for Smith, but a one- or two-year contract worth in the ballpark of $9-$10 million annually feels like the kind of structure that could potentially get a deal done. Detroit also has the benefit of offering Smith a healthy Hutchinson on the other side of the defensive line and potential Super Bowl contention in 2025.