Za'Darius

Smith

Refreshed after taking one game off, Decker practiced in full over the last two days and is good to go for Week 11. DE Za’Darius Smith will make his Lions debut this week after being rendered inactive in his first week with the team (Week 10), post-trade.

Smith joined the Lions at the deadline but was given Wednesday and Thursday off from practice as he tended to hurricane damage on his property in Florida. He will ultimately be held out, with the team now having to wait until Week 11 for their recent pass rusher to make his team debut.

Smith was given Wednesday and Thursday off to process his trade from the Browns to the Lions and was granted permission to visit his home in Florida, which suffered damage in a recent Hurricane. When asked if he would play this week, a smiling Smith told reporters, “I really don’t know but that’s a Dan [Campbell] question. Hopefully, I can play.” The Lions will be without starting LB Malcolm Rodriguez (ankle) and neither CB Emmanuel Moseley (pectoral) nor S Ifeatu Melifonwu (ankle) will make their return.

Detroit also gets a 2026 seventh round pick from Cleveland in the transaction. The move comes on the morning of the NFL’s trade deadline after weeks of rumors following the Lions’ loss of standout pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson (leg). Pro Football Focus grades Smith as the NFL’s 28th best pass rushing EDGE. He has five sacks and 20 QB hurries on the season, and will join a Lions defense with the league’s ninth highest pressure rate through Week 9.

Florio called his shot by adding that the trade is expected to happen tonight or tomorrow. It’s a deal that’s been rumored for weeks. Dan Campbell even hinted at the Lions making an addition at the trade deadline earlier in the week, though he didn’t get into specifics. Smith has five sacks this year, but the Browns threw in the towel when they traded Amari Cooper. Now the best they can do is pick up some draft capital by shipping off other veterans. Smith would help backfill a Detroit pass-rush that lost Aidan Hutchinson to a gruesome leg injury earlier this season.

Russini notes that it’s no secret across the league that the Lions brain trust of Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell is interested in acquiring an edge rusher ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline. She specifically mentioned Browns EDGE Za’Darius Smith as one of the players they’ve called about. This comes on the heels of a report earlier this week from ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Smith is likely to be traded. Smith told reporters a few weeks ago that he would like to go to Detroit so he could face two of his former teams, the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers.

The “in my mind” portion of this quote is a weird framing, but it makes all the sense in the world for the 2-6 Browns to part with Smith as they pursue draft assets. They’ve already moved on from Amari Cooper. Smith would be a perfect fit for a Lions outfit that has lost Aidan Hutchinson for the season. He’d also be a solution for many, many other teams. The market should be pretty hot for Smith.

Garrett is a new name for the injury report, as the 28-year-old had no designation for Wednesday’s session. The Browns also were without Za’Darius Smith Thursday with a back injury. Cleveland’s defense looked not-so-great in the Week 1 loss to the Cowboys, and could be without two of their best players for Week 2 against the Jaguars. There should be further updates on both Friday.

Smith was carted off the field 10 days ago after suffering a knee injury in practice. It was later determined to be a contusion for Smith, who took some time off to recover and is now back on the field. Smith totaled 5.5 sacks for the Browns in 16 games last season and signed a two-year contract extension with them earlier this offseason. Not counting a 2021 campaign in which he appeared in just one game due to injury, Smith’s 5.5 sacks are his fewest since 2018. He and the Browns hope he can bounce back to his old form heading into his age-32 season.

No word yet as to the severity of the injury, nor what the actual injury is. The 31-year-old was re-signed to a two-year, $23.5 million deal in March and is expected to pair with Myles Garrett to pair one of the better pass-rushing duos in the NFC North.