Za'Darius Smith Traded to Detroit Lions

Detroit bolsters pass rush in trade with Cleveland Browns.

New Detroit Lions defensive end Za'Darius Smith (99). / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions have acquired defensive end Za'Darius Smith in a trade with the Cleveland Browns.

News of the trade being imminent first surfaced Sunday prior to the Lions' matchup with the Green Bay Packers. It was officially finalized Tuesday, and the Lions sent Cleveland a 2025 fifth-round and a 2026 sixth-round pick in exchange for the defender. Along with Smith, the Lions acquired a 2026 seventh-round pick.

Smith has had a successful start to the season, with five sacks through the team's first nine games. Cleveland fell to 2-7 on the season with Sunday's 27-10 loss to the Chargers.

The veteran has 65 career sacks across his 10 NFL seasons. He is under contract through the end of the 2025 season, meaning the Lions will have him under team control for next season, as well as the duration of the 2024 campaign.

Per Spotrac, Smith is owed a base salary of $1.5 million and a signing bonus of $4.025 million next season. Plus, he will carry a 2025 cap hit of $9.433 million. By trading for Smith, the Lions will owe him $605,000 guaranteed this season and $11 million non-guaranteed next year.

New Detroit Lions defensive end Za'Darius Smith (99). / Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Lions had a need at defensive end created by season-ending injuries to both Aidan Hutchinson and Marcus Davenport earlier this year. Since Hutchinson went down in Week 6, the Lions have turned to Josh Paschal, James Houston, Isaiah Thomas and practice squad elevations Isaac Ukwu and Al-Quadin Muhammad to fill the void.

Paschal has missed the last two games with an illness, further depleting Detroit's defensive end depth.

Smith, 32, entered the league as a fourth-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in the 2015 NFL Draft. He has played for four teams in his career, including the Ravens (2015-18), the Green Bay Packers (2019-21), the Minnesota Vikings (2022) and the Browns (2023-24).