Lions make big trade for Pro Bowl edge Za'Darius Smith, but they shouldn't be done at the NFL trade deadline yet
There it is! You wanted the Detroit Lions to make a big trade at the NFL trade deadline and they just made a pretty big one. The Lions are trading a 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for Pro Bowl edge rusher Za'Darius Smith and 2026 seventh-round pick. Smith […]
There it is! You wanted the Detroit Lions to make a big trade at the NFL trade deadline and they just made a pretty big one. The Lions are trading a 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for Pro Bowl edge rusher Za'Darius Smith and 2026 seventh-round pick.
Smith is a big get for the Lions. The former Pro Bowler has been balling out this season and especially in the last few weeks. He has 26 pressures and 4.5 sacks this year, but 16 pressures and 1.5 of sacks have come in the last three games. He's been one of the big bright spots on the Browns defense.
There was an all time level of smoke surrounding this trade for weeks. Smith himself even got into it when he talked about how intrigued he was to potentially be traded to the Lions.
“Hate that injury happened to him, a guy that was on his way to get Defensive Player of the Year possibly,” Smith said about Aidan Hutchinson. “That’s a big loss for them. But if I was to go to Detroit, I would like it, because I get to play Green Bay twice a year and the Vikings twice a year. So, yeah, that’ll be big.”
Now the deal is done, but we keep seeing a lot of proof that this probably shouldn't be the only thing the Lions should do when it comes to the edge. The Lions could use more than one guy because they're struggling to keep even more guys healthy with Josh Paschal missing the last two games, Mekhi Wingo being out against the Packers and Brodic Martin's return not coming for a bit.
The best move the Lions could make in my opinion would be to ante up and go get Azeez Ojulari from the Giants. New York wants to trade him, but not because he's not playing well, but because they have their two guys in Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns.
While Smith is a good fix for this year, he's not a long term thing for the Lions. Ojulari can absolutely be that. If the Giants are selling, why not double up and get your guy for the future on the opposite side of Aidan Hutchinson when he returns?
Just a thought, the Lions are likely done at this point, but they shouldn't be.
Updated list of Lions 2025 NFL Draft picks after trade for Za’Darius Smith
The Detroit Lions finally made a splash at the NFL trade deadline on Tuesday when they traded a 2025 fifth-round and a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for Za'Darius Smith and a 2026 seventh-round pick. With all these picks moving around, we thought it might be a good idea to have a refresher […]
