Lions GM Brad Holmes said it was unfortunate but necessary to cut veteran DE Za’Darius Smith this year for the cash and cap savings.
That said, he didn’t rule out bringing Smith back at a lower rate depending on how things unfold in the coming weeks with the draft and Smith’s market.
“We would have loved to been able to keep him. We just weren’t able to. But we’ve been keeping in touch with his agent and he understands that process. We’ll just see how it goes,” Holmes said via Colton Pouncy .
Smith, 32, is a former fourth-round pick of the Ravens back in 2015. He played out the final year of his four-year rookie contract before agreeing to a four-year, $66 million contract with the Packers in 2019.
Smith had one year remaining on his contract and was set to make a base salary of $14,500,000 for the 2021 season when the Packers released him.
The Ravens reached an agreement with Smith on a four-year deal worth $35 million, but he opted to back out of the deal and sign a three-year, $42 million contract with the Vikings. From there, the Vikings traded Smith to the Browns, and he agreed to a two-year, $23.5 million contract with Cleveland.
The Browns traded Smith to the Lions along with a 2026 seventh-round pick in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2026 sixth-round pick. Detroit released him before the final year of his deal.
In 2024, Smith appeared in 17 games for the Lions and the Browns and recorded 35 tackles and nine sacks in 16 starts.
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