Lions earn flawless grade for landing Za'Darius Smith in blockbuster trade

The Detroit Lions needed pass rush help, and after a few days of swirling rumor they wasted little time getting a deal done on Tuesday morning.

Ahead of the league's 4 p.m. ET deadline, the Lions will acquire defensive end Za'Darius Smith from the Cleveland Browns. Putting Smith into the Detroit defense is a winning move because he has gotten after the quarterback well in his career. This season, he has five sacks in nine games for the Browns.

How does the move stack up in terms of a letter grade? Pro Football Focus' Gordon McGuinness is grading every trade around the league in real-time. Not surprisingly, he loved Detroit landing Smith.

"The Lions were a Super Bowl contender in desperate need of a pass-rusher after Aidan Hutchinson’s season-ending injury, and Smith is a huge upgrade for them off the edge. His 71.1 PFF pass-rushing grade ranks 24th at the position this season and is significantly better than every healthy edge defender currently on the Lions roster."

"Lions Grade: A+
Browns grade: B-"

Minus Hutchinson, the Lions have just five sacks over three full games. Hutchinson still leads the team with 7.5 sacks even though he has been out since being injured in Week 6. Smith should help that situation a lot, and immediately.

The Lions didn't surrender a fourth-round pick in the trade, as it has been reported the Browns wanted, and they managed to get a 2026 seventh-round pick back. With this in mind, the move looks like a big win for Detroit.

Za'Darius Smith has been one of NFL's top pass rushers since 2019

Perhaps the biggest reason the Lions traded for Smith? He has quietly been one of the best pass rushers the league over the past six seasons.

According to The 33rd Team, Smith is toward the top of the league since 2019 in sacks, hurries, pressures and quarterback hits.

Narrowing to more recently, Smith ranks highly on some significant PFF pass rushing leaderboards. He has been a top-10 edge rusher in terms of pass rush win rate, pressure rate and overall pass rush grade since 2022.

Considering the overall cost and what Smith adds to the mix at a position of significant need, there is a lot to like about this move for the Lions.