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Lions May Be Forced To Cut Za'Darius Smith
The Detroit Lions have a lot of reasons to bring back edge rusher Za'Darius Smith after he proved to be a perfect fit for the team down the stretch last year -- he was the team's best pass-rusher after Aidan Hutchinson (leg) went down -- but The Athletic's Nick Baumgardner thinks it's hard to see Smith coming back on the contract the Lions inherited from the trade with the Cleveland Browns. Designating the 32-year-old as a pre-June 1 cut would save Detroit almost $6 million in 2025 salary cap savings with no dead-money penalties. If he's cut, the Lions would almost certainly then look to bring him back on a new friendlier cap deal. The Lions have the cap space to make a big-time edge-rush move this offseason (potentially trading for Myles Garrett), but that would be a little out of character for this franchise. In eight regular-season games for Detroit after being traded, Smith recorded four sacks.
Source: The Athletic - Nick Baumgardner
Source: The Athletic - Nick Baumgardner
