Za’Darius Smith retired last week. Za’Darius Smith is now unretired and back in Cleveland.
The Browns officially signed the 32-year-old edge rusher on Saturday, days after Smith announced he was walking away from the NFL following a stint with the Eagles. That reversal was one of the shorter retirements in recent memory, and it turns out the Browns were making the pitch behind the scenes the whole time.
Smith spent 2024 in Cleveland and put up 5.5 sacks in eight games before getting traded to Philadelphia. The Browns clearly wanted him back the whole offseason. Now they have him for another run.
Why This Is a Big Deal
Myles Garrett is Myles Garrett. That part of the Browns’ pass rush is settled. The question every year is who plays opposite him. Smith is the answer the Browns wanted, and losing him for the whole summer to a competitor made this reunion feel unlikely.
Smith is a three-time Pro Bowler with 71.5 career sacks. He is not the same guy he was in his Baltimore prime, but he is still a legitimate edge rusher who can win one-on-ones. Paired with Garrett, he gives Cleveland one of the more disruptive pass-rush duos in the AFC.
The retirement announcement threw everyone. Smith had been working with the Eagles’ training staff and there was public talk of him being ready to contribute. Then he stepped away with no clear reason. Cleveland’s front office kept the line open. That patience just paid off.
The Cap and Contract Situation
Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Cleveland has some cap space to work with but is not swimming in it. This is likely a one-year deal built with incentives and playing time triggers. That is how veteran edge rushers get signed at this point in the calendar. Everyone bets on themselves and re-visits it after the season.
Smith reportedly took a smaller number than he had been asking earlier this year. That is the tradeoff for the retirement stunt. Nobody knew if he was coming back at all, so the market thinned out. The Browns are the beneficiary of that.
What Andrew Berry Is Building
Browns GM Andrew Berry is trying to fix a defense that got exposed against the pass in the second half of last season. Getting a veteran edge on the roster, paired with the return of some healthy defensive tackles, immediately raises the ceiling.
The AFC North is going to be brutal again. Baltimore is Baltimore. The Bengals are healthy for once. The Steelers added Aaron Rodgers. Cleveland needs its defense to be legitimately elite to compete in that division, and this move gets them closer to it.
The Locker Room Angle
Smith is a known quantity in the Browns’ locker room. His return should be seamless because most of the coaching staff and half the defense know him already. That is the underrated part of this signing. There is no learning curve, no fit questions, no waiting for chemistry to develop.
Kevin Stefanski gets a veteran pass rusher he trusts. Jim Schwartz gets an edge who can win in his system. Garrett gets his running mate back. Everybody wins here except the teams that thought Smith was actually done playing.
He might not have been serious about retirement. He might have needed the money. He might have missed the game. Whatever the real reason, Smith is putting the helmet back on and lining up in orange and brown by the middle of September.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
