After forcing his way out of Minnesota over a year ago, former Vikings star Za’Darius Smith has revenge on his mind with hopes his Cleveland Browns will trade him to the Detroit Lions.
After the Lions lost Defensive Player of the Year favorite Aidan Hutchinson for the season last week, Detroit fans are hunting for a star pass rusher to keep their ambitions of Super Bowl contention alive.
Smith’s name has surfaced as a potential trade candidate in national media, given the Browns’ 1-5 start and trade of Amari Cooper signal a complete teardown of the roster.
While Smith said that he’s focused on turning around Cleveland’s season, the three-time Pro Bowl edge rusher openly entertained the idea of a trade to the Lions with a local outlet — noting the opportunity to exact revenge on the Vikings and Packers.
“Hate that injury happened to him, a guy that was on his way to get Defensive Player of the Year possibly. That’s a big loss for them,” he told the Chronicle-Telegram on October 18. “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.”
Za’Darius Smith Addresses Forcing His Way Out of Vikings Contract
GettyDefensive end Za’Darius Smith of the Cleveland Browns.
After signing a three-year, $42 million deal to join the Vikings in 2022, Smith came out red-hot, tallying 9.5 sacks through the first nine games of the season. Smith’s play was impacted by a knee injury the rest of the way, posting just 0.5 sacks the rest of the season.
Minnesota appeared to be in a good place defensively before Smith’s dissatisfaction with his contract became public. He requested a trade that the Vikings ultimately honored, sending him to Cleveland for a pair of Day 3 pick swaps.
The issue with the contract appeared to be incentive-driven, forcing Smtih to play through injury, he said.
“Lot of people didn’t know, in my contract, I had it to where I had to play every game to get my bonus,” Smith said in May 2023, per NFL.com. “Certain situations, coach was just telling me ‘Give it all you can and then we’ll just rest you from there.’ I wasn’t as effective as I was at the beginning of the season, but I’m all healthy now and ready to go.
“I couldn’t rest last year because every game, I think I was making like $200,000 just to dress up. You would dress up too, right? Exactly.”
Smith added that the contract “wasn’t set up right” due to how the guarantees were structured.
“For one, it wasn’t set up right,” he said. “The guaranteed part. The first year was the only guarantee. So now I’m basically in the same situation but it’s OK now because I can get a chance to go into free agency next year.”
The trade included the Vikings footing some of Smith’s salary to help create more guarantees in his 2023 earnings.
Now in Cleveland, Smith has yet to miss a game at 32 years old and appears to be fielding offers for his next destination.
Vikings O-Line Has Advantage Against Lions
GettyLions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson
With the loss of Hutchinson, the Lions pass rush has little firepower to work against the Vikings.
Hutchinson led the league with 8.0 sacks and 45 pressures before undergoing surgery for a fractured tibia and fibula.
The next most productive pass rushers for Detroit are defensive linemen Levi Onwuzurike and Alim McNeill with 17 and 16 pressures, respectively. The next closest edge rusher to Hutchinson is former Viking Marcus Davenport with 7 pressures.
Davenport is on injured reserve after suffering a potentially season-ending elbow injury in Week 3, leaving few proven options on the edge for Detroit.
That should shore up some mental energy for the Vikings’ offensive line to focus on one-on-one assignments instead of double-teaming Hutchinson.
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