Greenville High School alumnus Za’Darius Smith is making a move from the team with the worst record in the AFC to the team with the best record in the NFC in a trade.
The Detroit Lions have acquired the defensive end from the Cleveland Browns, according to reports from Cleveland.com, NFL Network, and ESPN, prior to an official announcement from either team on Tuesday ahead of the 3 p.m. CST trade deadline.
Detroit’s top pass-rusher, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, suffered a broken leg during the Lions’ 47-9 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 13. The Lions have registered five sacks in the three games since Hutchinson’s injury, but they recorded none in Sunday’s 24-14 win over the Green Bay Packers.
Smith has five sacks for the Browns this season and 65 in his career.
In exchange for Smith, Detroit sent a fifth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and a sixth-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, along with receiving a seventh-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
This marks the second trade of Smith’s career. Cleveland acquired him and a pair of 2025 draft picks from the Minnesota Vikings on May 12, 2023, in exchange for two fifth-round selections in 2024 and 2025.
A basketball player at Greenville High School, Smith played football for the Tigers in his senior year, which led him to East Mississippi Community College. He then completed his college career at Kentucky.
A fourth-round pick by Baltimore in the 2015 NFL Draft, Smith played four seasons with the Ravens before signing a four-year, $66 million deal with the Green Bay Packers in free agency.
Smith earned Pro Bowl honors as an outside linebacker with the Packers in 2019 and 2020, recording 26 sacks, 29 tackles for loss, and 60 quarterback hits.
In the 2021 season opener, Smith aggravated a back injury that required surgery. He didn’t play again until the NFC playoffs on Jan. 22, 2022, where he returned to produce a sack in Green Bay’s 13-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
The Packers released Smith on March 14, 2022, with one year remaining on his contract. Nine days later, the Vikings signed him to a three-year, $42 million deal, and Smith earned another Pro Bowl selection in 2022 with 10 sacks.
The Browns reworked Smith’s contract when they acquired him. Smith was set to earn $11.75 million in 2023 and had the chance to become a free agent after the season, but instead signed a two-year, $23.5 million extension with Cleveland in March.
Smith is the second high-profile veteran traded by the Browns this season. On Oct. 15, Cleveland traded former Alabama All-American Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick and a 2026 seventh-round pick.
At 2-7, the Browns are on a bye week. They will return to action on Nov. 17 against the New Orleans Saints.
Detroit, with a 7-1 record, will next play the Houston Texans at 7:20 p.m. CST on Sunday at NRG Stadium in Houston, with the game airing on NBC.
Since the Lions have already had their bye week, Smith will have the opportunity to play in 18 games this season.
