Former Packers Star Wants Trade to Major NFC North Rival

The Cleveland Browns are 1-5, already have one of the worst offenses in the league, and just traded away their best offensive player to the Buffalo Bills. Naturally, there is a league-wide expectation that the Browns will be sellers at the trade deadline and move on from their veterans in exchange for draft compensation.

The former Packers defender Za'Darius Smith is one of the more obvious trade candidates there. After leaving the Packers in the 2022 offseason to join Minnesota, Smith was traded to the Browns before the 2023 NFL season. In March 2024, he signed a two-year, $23 million contract to stay in Cleveland.

Now that the team is seemingly headed for a rebuild, getting as much value for the 32-year-old as they can makes plenty of sense. One team that has emerged as a suitor is the Detroit Lions.

When asked about it, the three-time Pro Bowler was more than open to the idea of joining the Lions, per Scott Petrak of BrownsZone.

"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

Detroit lost star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson to a broken leg in Week 6. He will miss the rest of the season.

In the very competitive NFC North, the Lions feel like they need to make a move to try to replace Hutchinson. Smith was a Pro Bowler as recently as the 2022 season and already has three sacks in six games so far. He is probably not the same player he was when he was with the Packers but he is still a valuable option on the edge for any contender.

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