Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Browns make the correct move for the future of the franchise by trading DE Za’Darius Smith
After falling to 2-7 thanks to a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, it only made sense for the Cleveland Browns to become sellers at the NFL trade deadline.
Cleveland had already shipped off wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills and now they have made another trade. Cleveland is sending defensive end Za’Darius Smith to the Detroit Lions for a fifth- and sixth-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. The Browns will send a seventh-round pick back with Smith.
After having 5.5 sacks last season with the Browns, Smith came back a better player this season on a two-year deal. The former Pro Bowl pass rusher picked up a half sack against the Chargers to tie last year’s total in just nine games.
Cleveland did not have Smith in their plans past next season because he is an aging player at a premium position. The Browns will now give an expanded opportunity to defensibe ends Isaiah McGuire and Ogbo Okoronkwo. Second year pass rusher Alex Wright is another play they are high on, but he is out for the season with an injury.
Cleveland will figure out their guy of the future opposite of Myles Garrett in the future. Sending Smith to the Lions gives him the opportunity to go back to the NFC North and to join a team that can contend for a Super Bowl right now. In return, the Browns get a draft pick back that they can use to get younger.
At the beginning of the year it would have been sort of wild to think the Browns would be sellers at the trade deadline. A lot has gone wrong in Cleveland and that is officially reality.
