Just before Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline, the Cleveland Browns traded defensive end Za’Darius Smith to the Detroit Lions, a deal that had been rumored for a little while.
Smith will strengthen a Detroit Lions team that was already the best in the NFC and help make up for the season-ending injury to budding star Aidan Hutchinson.
At the same time, it continues to appear as if the Browns may be entering some sort of retooling or even rebuilding process.
Their official X (formerly Twitter) account expressed gratitude with a simple three-word message: “Thank you, Z!”
At age 32, Smith continues to be an effective pass rusher, and he was one rare bright spot in what has otherwise been a miserable season for Cleveland.
Through nine games this season, he has 5.0 sacks, seven quarterback hits and six tackles for loss.
It is starting to look like Cleveland’s roster could look significantly different once next season starts than it did this September.
Quarterback Deshaun Watson tore his Achilles in Week 7 and will be out for the rest of this season, and there are rumors that he may have played his last game for them.
Trading him, however, would be extremely difficult, given his huge contract, plunging production, and off the field issues.
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With a 2-7 record, the Cleveland Browns have been active as sellers in this year’s trade market.
Cleveland’s opportunity to make more deals before the NFL trade deadline – set for later today – has been to acquire draft capital for the team’s rebuild next season.
The Browns did move one player, sending Za’Darius Smith and a 2026 seventh-round selection to the Detroit Lions for the team’s 2025 fifth-round pick and their 2026 sixth-round choice.
Will the Browns strike another deal before the trade deadline occurs?
Cleveland will most likely not make any further moves, NFL insider Jeremy Fowler revealed today on X.
“The Browns are most likely done making moves at the deadline, I’m told,” Fowler wrote, adding, “Had talks but nothing else came together save Za’Darius Smith deal.”
The Browns now have nine picks for next season, including their first-round selection for the first time since the 2021 NFL Draft.
In 2022, Cleveland sent their next three first-round draft picks (2022 – 2024) and three other draft selections to the Houston Texans to acquire quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Watson’s impact extends beyond the reduced draft picks for the Browns.
Cleveland signed the quarterback to a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract that the team has restructured twice over the past two years.
That restructured deal has pushed his salary cap hit to 2025 and 2026, a time when the Browns could have over $120 million in dead cap space if the Browns move on from him after June 1, 2025.
Cleveland’s reason to acquire draft capital relies on rookies possessing salaries that are cap-friendly for the Browns to allow the team to retain Watson while moving on from him at the same time.
