Za’Darius Smith’s retirement lasted about eight months. Now he is heading back to Cleveland.
Smith is expected to sign with the Browns by Monday, per Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com. He worked out for Cleveland on Thursday, and both sides quickly settled on making the reunion official.
Why the Browns Need Him
Cleveland’s pass rush is in trouble.
The Browns traded Myles Garrett to the Rams earlier this offseason, and any team that loses a generational edge rusher has to scramble for replacements. Smith is not Myles Garrett. Nobody expected him to be. But he is a 33-year-old veteran with real production, and a bad Browns team is a much better place for him than sitting at home.
Smith previously spent parts of two seasons in Cleveland, playing for the Browns in 2023 and 2024. He put up 10.5 sacks over 25 games during that stretch. Those are legit numbers, especially for a guy who was already in the back half of his career.
Why It Makes Sense for Smith
You might look at the Cleveland roster and wonder why Smith would come back to a team that is not exactly a title contender. The answer is playing time.
Smith walked away from the Eagles last October and announced his retirement. That did not stick, and the signals since June have been clear that he wanted back in. The Browns give him something a lot of other teams could not: a guaranteed starting role, a defense that badly needs his snaps, and a coaching staff that already knows him.
Contenders are usually looking for role players and depth. Cleveland is looking for a headline addition to their pass rush. That is a completely different market.
The Pattern Here
Smith is the latest in a long line of pass rushers who “retire” and then very quickly change their minds. Guys who make their living getting after the quarterback often struggle to walk away from the game because the money is still there, the market is thin, and the ego of a proven edge rusher rarely lets them accept the end quietly.
Smith is not old by NFL standards for his position. There are still plenty of edge rushers in the league playing well into their mid-30s. If he can put up seven or eight sacks in a full season, he has a legitimate case for one more contract after this one.
The Browns are also getting a locker room presence. Smith is a well-liked, high-energy veteran who brings personality to a defense that just lost its most famous player. Rookies and young pass rushers will benefit from him being around.
What This Means for Cleveland
Nobody is going to look at the AFC North and pick the Browns after this signing. That is not the point. The point is that Cleveland recognized it had a hole and moved to fill it with a proven veteran instead of banking on a rookie or a scrap-heap flyer.
The Browns are a team caught between rebuilding and trying to compete. Signing Smith says they are still trying to be competitive in 2026, even without Garrett. Whether that is realistic depends on what the offense actually looks like once the regular season begins.
For Smith personally, this is the right move. The Browns need him. He needs the reps. Retirement can wait a couple more seasons.
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.
