I thought Za’Darius Smith was a slam dunk to be back because of his contract. Apparewntly I must have misinterpeted it because I’m reading that we are basically on the hook for a little under 12mil if we keep him at this current contract (This includes the dead money from 2026).
What is don’t understand is why we are on the hook for his pro rated option bonus? I thought that is money the Browns already paid him? I know salary guarantees can transfer if traded before certain dates, but I thought any guaranteed cash paid out by a team typically stays with that team when the player is traded. If anyone else has a good understanding of the cap and can elaborate as well please do.
Pre-June 1 Cut: $0 dead cap, $5,727,500 savings in 2025*
Cut probability: High
Acquired midseason for a pair of draft picks, Smith provided some much-needed pass rush for a post-Hutchinson defensive line, but it sadly was not enough to get them over the playoff hump. The Lions are now footing the bill of the Cleveland Browns’ extension from last March. Because he was acquired via trade, his contract is somewhat complicated to process.
The Lions can incur a $0 dead cap hit only if he is cut before March 15 (the third day of the new league year). If he is on the roster after March 15, his $2 million signing bonus from his Browns contract kicks in. Cutting him after this date would convert that bonus into dead cap. Meanwhile, Smith has four years of prorated option bonuses (three of which are void years) at $1.75 million per year—these bonuses are due a week before the 2025 regular season begins. If Smith is on the roster in September with his current contract, the Lions would be on the hook for the entirety of that $6.9 million option bonus.
Officially, Smith has one year remaining on his deal and would become a free agent in 2026. However, based on how the Browns structured his contract, he would have a cap hit of over $5 million in 2026 regardless of whether he re-signed in Detroit or elsewhere—void years spread the signing bonus over multiple seasons, such as Carlton Davis’ contract.
There is no incentive for the Lions to keep Smith on his current contract—they do not want to be on the hook for his prorated option bonuses. If they are aiming to get out of his contract before September, they might as well do it before March 15 to avoid his $2 million signing bonus as well. The only two ways I see Smith sticking around next season is either via a contract restructure or cutting then re-signing him.
In short, the Browns paid his signing bonus - not his option bonus. They were on the hook for money already paid…that has to hit the cap eventually for them.
He’s due a $6.99m option bonus on the 7th day prior to the start of the new league year. If the Lions pick it up, that’s on them, not the Browns - the Lions pay that. This has nothing to do with the money the Browns have already paid. This is new bonus money that the Lions would be choosing to pick up.
Since Z has 3 void years in his contract, that gets spread among them (and 2025) for cap purposes. So ~$1.75m is applied to each year. When a contract ends, void years accelerate, so that’s why he would carry a dead cap charge of ~$5.2m in 2026.
If I had to bet, I think we try and bring him back cheaper. If he really wants to be in DET. He’s going to be 33 in September. And while he made a nice contribution, he is past his prime. He’s a good rotational piece, but not who we want to start opposite Hutch, I don’t think.
Smith is hands down better than anyone else weve had starting opposite Hutch. Definitely a guy we need to keep and we definitely need to find more pass rushers. Watching the Eagles Dline against the Commanders really highlighted how much we were lacking in our front 4. I know injuries were a big part of it but we need to find some more guys that can get to the quarterback.
I’d like to see a high draft pick compete with Z for that role. The 5th (and swap of late rounders in 2026) is a sunk cost at this point. I hope Brad aims a bit higher than Z at age 33.
I hope you’re right… but we did trade bean for DPJ the year before and he never got off the PSquad this last year.
If Z’Darius is brought back cheaper and he gets beat out by our new talent that we acquire on the DL this offseason…I think he could face the same path as DPJ.
That being said, I hope he’s back and is a solid dude for at least 1 more year.
I don’t know about that. I’m hoping for an edge high in the draft NFL ready enough to beat out Z, who I think could be great to spell both Hutch and the rook. That would be the more ideal scenario to me.
I think Z is a near lock to start opposite of Hutch in week 1. I’m hoping he splits reps with a high-ish draft pick that the Lions are working up to start in 2026. Right now though he’s still a good player who would be more effective with fewer snaps than he took with us after the trade.
I’m no draftnik but it’s hard to ignore Green’s production.
Can he be anymore of a problem child than Jamo? I think we have the locker room and staff to handle a kid with a maturity issue, unless it involves something like sexual assault or the like. Anybody know anything about his being kicked out of Virginia’s program?
He looks really good and healthy, as well. This particular make and model is known for lasting longer and high customer satisfaction ratings. We’ve got the model that is known for getting 500k miles.
I hear ya. I just think that a rookie capable of beating Z out of a starting position is a tall task.
We haven’t seen Hutch playing with Z on the edge opposite him. We had seen a little bit of Davenport, but not Z. I’m looking forward to seeing these 2 together.
