At 1-5 and little hope for a turnaround as long as a certain someone remains under center, the fire sale might be on for the Cleveland Browns. It may come down to cost to get some players, but the Detroit Lions are surely taking a look at edge rushers in the wake of Aidan Hutchinson's season-ending leg injury.
There has been some chatter out there tying Za'Darius Smith to the Lions, with former NFL general manager Michael Lombardi openly mentioning it during his appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" this week.
"Cleveland is gonna have a for sale sign and Za'Darius Smith could be going to the Lions..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 17, 2024
If they lose this game to the Bengals they should just start getting ready for next year"@mlombardiNFL #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/Tw9H90g4n1
CBS Sports has also pointed to the fit for Smith and the Lions. There have been some unconfirmed reports the Lions have checked on Smith.
Entering Week 7, Smith is a top-50 graded edge defender by Pro Football Focus (No. 41 overall) with three sacks and 10 quarterback pressures. As head coach Dan Campbell has suggested finding a "role player", Smith seems to fit the bill. PFF graded him as a top-20 edge defender in the league in 2022 and 2023.
Za'Darius Smith seems interested in being traded to the Lions
On Thursday, Smith said he hadn't seen his name discussed in any trade speculation and acknowledged it's not his call if he's traded.
"I didn’t even know about it,” Smith said, via Scott Petrak of Browns Zone. "You know what, that’s not my decision. That’s all upstairs. I would rather you ask them to see what that would be.”
But the idea of going to a Super Bowl contender, like the Lions, seemed to interest Smith.
"Hate that injury happened to him, a guy that was on his way to get Defensive Player of the Year possibly,” Smith said of Hutchinson. “That’s a big loss for them. But if I was to go to Detroit, I would like it, because I get to play Green Bay twice a year and the Vikings twice a year. So, yeah, that’ll be big.”
Smith played three seasons for the Green Bay Packers (2019-2021) and one for the Minnesota Vikings (2022), so coming to the Lions would set him up for a little revenge tour of the NFC North.
Whatever his personal motivation might be, the idea of the Lions trading for Smith just got a little more juice based on his comments. Maybe he knows something?