Chris Pokorny, the founder of Dawgs By Nature, is a lifelong Browns fan and oversees the editorial content for the site. His coverage includes everything from team analysis to tips for road game travel.

At the NFL trade deadline, the Cleveland Browns made their biggest move by trading defensive end Za’Darius Smith to the Detroit Lions in exchange for draft picks.

However, while Smith is no longer on the Browns’ roster, his cap impact is still being felt, particularly due to the contract extension he signed earlier this year under GM Andrew Berry.

As we previously analyzed, Smith received an $18.258 million signing bonus when he re-signed, which was spread across several void years.

This signing bonus, however, remains on the Browns’ books.

The portion accounted for in 2024, amounting to $4.025 million, has already been factored into the current cap. But the remaining $14.233 million from the bonus will hit the Browns’ cap as dead money in 2025.

Meanwhile, the Lions are taking on the rest of Smith’s contract, including half of his 2024 base salary, which comes out to $605,000 for Detroit. This will give the Browns a small cap savings for this year.

Detroit also faces decisions regarding Smith’s 2025 $2 million roster bonus and a $6.99 million option bonus, which will not be Cleveland’s concern moving forward.

Looking back, re-signing Smith may not have been the right move.

The deal was made with the expectation that the Browns would be a playoff contender, but that hasn’t played out as hoped.

Now, Cleveland has recouped a fifth- and sixth-round pick in exchange for Smith, which could potentially be used to move up to a fourth-round pick in the future.

In hindsight, it’s clear that the Browns’ re-signing of Smith hasn’t provided the return they anticipated.