The Vikings have reportedly come to an agreement with the Browns that will send pass rusher Za’Darius Smith to Cleveland, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The deal finally happens for Smith after he requested his release two months ago. The Browns will receive Smith, a 2025 sixth-round pick, and a 2025 seventh-round pick, while the Vikings will receive a 2024 fifth-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick.
Originally, Smith was under a three-year, $42MM contract through the 2024 season. He had a base salary this year of $9.45MM with only $5MM of it guaranteed. After changing agents and requesting a release, Smith was able to get a reworked deal that would guarantee him $11.75MM in 2023 and allow him to hit free agency a year earlier, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
The new deal presumably made Smith a bit easier to deal in the trade market, negating the cap hits of $15.49MM in 2023 and $21.67MM in 2024. The Browns should inherit this new contract from Minnesota, giving Smith a one-year tryout in Cleveland.
In Smith, the Browns are obtaining an elite pass rusher to pair with Myles Garrett. The Browns were tied for 27th in the league in sacks last year after failing to find any pressure outside of what Garrett provided. Garrett had his usual strong outing, matching his career-high of 16.0 sacks in 2023. The team’s second-leading pass rusher was defensive tackle Taven Bryan who was 13 sacks shy of Garrett with only three.
Smith provides that fire support. Since leaving Baltimore as a prime free agent in 2019, Smith has had double-digit sack seasons in any year that he’s started a game in (he only made one appearance in 2021), making the Pro Bowl in each of those seasons. In those four years (essentially three seasons), Smith has 36.0 sacks, 44.0 for loss, and 84 quarterback hits, tacking on six forced fumbles and seven deflected passes for good measure.
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