Report: Lions expected to make trade for Za'Darius Smith ASAP

Several reports have suggested the Detroit Lions have interest in Za'Darius Smith, and when the topic of being traded to Detroit was brought up to him it seemed he was on-board.

"But if I was to go to Detroit, I would like it", Smith said back in October, after Aidan Hutchinson's injury, "because I get to play Green Bay twice a year and the Vikings twice a year. So, yeah, that’ll be big.”

According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk on Sunday afternoon, the Lions will indeed acquire Smith before Tuesday's trade deadline.

"Yes, the Lions and Browns  a potential trade for defensive end Za’Darius Smith. At this point, the expectation is that it’ll be more than talk."

"Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the current expectation is that Smith will be traded to Detroit tonight or tomorrow."

Smith is in his 10th NFL season, and his second with the Cleveland Browns. He has five sacks through eight games this season, with an overall Pro Football Focus grade of 71.4 (No. 36 among edge defenders through Week 8).

Smith is of course playing for the 2-6 Browns on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers, a game in which a loss was thought possible to push Cleveland all the way into sell-mode and they're trailing 20-3 more than halfway into the third quarter as of this writing.

Lions set to acquire Za'Darius Smith

Of course a deal isn't done until it's done, and Florio merely reported a trade is expected to be done to bring Smith to the Lions on Sunday night or Monday. No one else has reported that a deal is expected at this point.

Of course the next thing regarding the Lions trading for Smith, assuming it comes to fruition, is what they'll give up.

This past week, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported the Browns may be willing to take a "decent Day 3 pick" in a trade for the veteran edge rusher. That asking price would presumably be ideal for the Lions, to go with the very reasonable money Smith is due over the rest of this season and the lack of guaranteed money he has in 2025.