Browns trade for Za'darius Smith

SdBacker80

Berry is going all in…job on the line for sure.

I had no idea Smith was with Minnesota…thought he was still with the Pack

Jax

It's great to have an offense that can move the ball but there's something about having a D that annihilates offenses I like better.

I know I'm setting myself up to be miserable but that's just post season Browns tradition.

Unsympathetic

I haven't looked at Browns cap situation lately, but the idea of leaving about 10 free each year to take on someone else's talented edge salary dump is pretty good.

In March 2017 Browns took on the 2018 15M salary of Brock Osweiler because Houston also gave Cleveland 2017 rd6 and 2018 rd2 picks.

In 2017 Houston went 4-12 and Cleveland was 0-fer.

That second round pick from Houston was Nick Chubb. [The earlier second round pick, Austin Corbett, was Cleveland's original rd2]

TexasAg1969

@jax said:

It's great to have an offense that can move the ball but there's something about having a D that annihilates offenses I like better.

I know I'm setting myself up to be miserable but that's just post season Browns tradition.

You stole the echo in my head. Finally an all-in attempt to right this ship from top to bottom without losing our MVPs both sides of the ball.?

nickers

@texasag1969 said:

You stole the echo in my head. Finally an all-in attempt to right this ship from top to bottom without losing our MVPs both sides of the ball.?

It all looks good on paper... But we don't play games on paper...

Dutch Oven

@nickers said:

It all looks good on paper... But we don't play games on paper...

It's well established - you are a Browns fan that roots for the Browns to lose. We get it.

Dutch Oven

@texasag1969 said:

You stole the echo in my head. Finally an all-in attempt to right this ship from top to bottom without losing our MVPs both sides of the ball.?

The sad thing is I still think Stefanski can sabatoge what seems like a good offseason by making some head-scratching decisions in-game.

That and as far as I know the offense Watson seems to thrive in doesn't really resemble the offenses Kevin has coached in Minnesota and Cleveland so far. Can he evolve to take advantage of Watson's tools?

Korsou Dawg

Before any discussion about the merits of this trade:

With that out of the way, kinda sucks for Ogbo and McGuire. With the both of them next to Myles, we seemed to have quite some firepower on the Edge already. Might be wrong. Given Schwartz's propensity to 4-man rush, we could see a lot of play to play rotations/ subbing to keep it going.

Kvoethe

@tiamat63 said:

Wowzer. That's quite a bit of firepower on the Dline now.

Despite 10 sacks, Vikes still misused ZS quite a bit at times. I remember watching him drop quite a bit in that Colts game and playing way out of his comfort zone until Minnesota finally adjusted.

So was clowney. Seems like a quality upgrade.

mjp28

The Cleveland BROWNS deal with the Minnesota Vikings for Za'Darius Smith.

From CBS Sports -

The Minnesota Vikings have traded three-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Za'Darius Smith to the Cleveland Browns, according to NFL Media. Along with Smith, the Browns received a 2025 sixth and seventh-round pick. The Vikings received 2024 and 2025 fifth-round picks.

Smith, 30, recorded 10 sacks during his only season with the Vikings. He was previously signed through the 2024 with the Vikings with a $9.4 million base salary with $5 million guaranteed. Now, Smith will receive $11.75 million this year as part of his reworked deal. Smith will also get a chance to test free agency next year.

In Cleveland, he will join a Browns defense that features perennial Pro Bowl defensive end Myles Garrett, linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. and defensive backs Denzel Ward, Grant Delpit and Greg Newsome II. Smith's addition fills a previous void in Cleveland left by Jadeveon Clowney's departure at the end of the 2022 season.

Smith's loss is a considerable one for the Vikings, whose linebacker corps still includes Danielle Hunter and Marcus Davenport. Minnesota added to its defense via the draft when they selected cornerback Mekhi Blackmon in the third round, safety Jay Ward in the fourth round and nose. tackle JaquelinRoy in the fifth round.

The 122nd pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, Smith is familiar with the AFC North having started his career with the Ravens. A part-time starter during his four years in Baltimore, Smith hit free agency following his final season with the Ravens that saw him record a then-career-high 8.5 sacks.

Smith signed a four-year deal with the Packers the ensuing offseason. He immediately blossomed into a Pro Bowler in Green Bay, where he recorded 13.5 sacks in 2019 and 12.5 sacks in 2020 while helping the Packers advance to the NFC Championship Game during both seasons.

After an injury wiped out virtually his entire 2021 season (his final one with the Packers), Smith proved that he was still an elite player during his lone season in Minnesota. He played in 17 of a possible 18 games (including the playoffs) while earning his third trip to the Pro Bowl.

mjp28

How did each team fare in this trade? Here's our two cents.

Browns: A+

Cleveland needed to bolster its pass rush after having just 34 quarterback takedowns in 2022. Take away Garrett's sack total, and the Browns averaged just over one sack a game last season. That's not going to cut it in an AFC that has a wealth of elite quarterback play.

Sure, the Browns could lose Smith after a year, but they'd get a compensatory pick for next year's draft should Smith sign elsewhere. Regardless of what happens next year, the Browns gave up little to get a Pro Bowl caliber player who can help them win now.

Vikings: B

One would think that the Vikings would have been able to get more for a player of Smith's caliber. Despite that fact, the Vikings were able to improve their future draft capital. Smith's salary, the fact that he will be a free agent next year and the fact that we're this late in the offseason surely limited the Vikings' options.

syd

win now

mjp28

To wrap up the bio on Za'Darius prior to coming to Cleveland :

The 122nd pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, Smith is familiar with the AFC North having started his career with the Ravens. A part-time starter during his four years in Baltimore, Smith hit free agency following his final season with the Ravens that saw him record a then-career-high 8.5 sacks.

Smith signed a four-year deal with the Packers the ensuing offseason. He immediately blossomed into a Pro Bowler in Green Bay, where he recorded 13.5 sacks in 2019 and 12.5 sacks in 2020 while helping the Packers advance to the NFC Championship Game during both seasons.

After an injury wiped out virtually his entire 2021 season (his final one with the Packers), Smith proved that he was still an elite player during his lone season in Minnesota. He played in 17 of a possible 18 games (including the playoffs) while earning his third trip to the Pro Bowl.

SO there you go ......

Orion

@gumby73 said:

"Smith's agent was told to get him out of Minnesota"

Careful what ya wish for.

Good for us. Nails down a spot where we have young guys needing time to evolve.

mjp28

Oh BTW my nice smooth attempt to merge threads ...... lol.

jrb12711

Definitely an on paper upgrade, but I'd be lying if I wasn't worried they are dealing with Clowney 2.0. Smith has had some less than ideal breakups with both the Vikings and Packers over the last two years, doing petty stuff on social media and the like. I get this is a one year "win now' move, but so was Clowney last year.

https://sports.yahoo.com/vikings-reportedly-decline-pro-bowl-lb-zadarius-smiths-request-for-release-but-he-says-goodbye-anyway-232701740.html

Maybe it's not as bad as Clowney, but IDK. Kinda feels like a "fool me once" scenario

SdBacker80

@jrb12711 said:

Definitely an on paper upgrade, but I'd be lying if I wasn't worried they are dealing with Clowney 2.0. Smith has had some less than ideal breakups with both the Vikings and Packers over the last two years, doing petty stuff on social media and the like. I get this is a one year "win now' move, but so was Clowney last year.

https://sports.yahoo.com/vikings-reportedly-decline-pro-bowl-lb-zadarius-smiths-request-for-release-but-he-says-goodbye-anyway-232701740.html

Maybe it's not as bad as Clowney, but IDK. Kinda feels like a "fool me once" scenario

I hear ya. You mention one year deal which I think is key. He‘ll be 31 signing what he hopes is a multi year year deal 10 months from now. He’s probably motivated to prove something. I don’t see him as a workhorse though and with a 17 game schedule plus hopeful playoff rounds…I think we need to pitch count him. I think we have enough dudes now to throw some quality snaps at as well. Hoping of course we stay relatively healthy

I don’t want excuse Clowneys behavior but Was anyone on that defense last season happy? Newsome too. And Johnson…and others (including fans) all were seemingly disgruntled. Maybe a new chief and a better scheme changes feelings and attitudes.

nickers

@sdbacker80 said:

I hear ya. You mention one year deal which I think is key. He‘ll be 31 signing what he hopes is a multi year year deal 10 months from now. He’s probably motivated to prove something. I don’t see him as a workhorse though and with a 17 game schedule plus hopeful playoff rounds…I think we need to pitch count him. I think we have enough dudes now to throw some quality snaps at as well. Hoping of course we stay relatively healthy

I don’t want excuse Clowneys behavior but Was anyone on that defense last season happy? Newsome too. And Johnson…and others (including fans) all were seemingly disgruntled. Maybe a new chief and a better scheme changes feelings and attitudes.

I trust Jim Schwartz to put this unit in better situations to make plays.. Whereas in Joe Woods system.. It looked like failed lab experiments week in and week out....

Flugel

@dutch-oven said:

The sad thing is I still think Stefanski can sabatoge what seems like a good offseason by making some head-scratching decisions in-game.

That and as far as I know the offense Watson seems to thrive in doesn't really resemble the offenses Kevin has coached in Minnesota and Cleveland so far. Can he evolve to take advantage of Watson's tools?

I agree; and I think a lot of it had to do with his playbook. I think pass routes tree was limited at best. The run offense was fine IMO. 1 thing I think we all agree on is that he made it so Brissett exceeded a lot of our expectations in the sense our offense was averaging over 24 points a game most of the time he started.

The problem was we would have a long sustained scoring drive of 5 or more minutes all forgotten when the opponent could get the 7 points right back from us scoring in half that amount of time.

I'm looking forward to seeing what all the changes we've made can do to improve that in 2023. More specifically, THIS YEAR. I like that phrase a lot.

SdBacker80

@flugel said:

I agree; and I think a lot of it had to do with his playbook. I think pass routes tree was limited at best. The run offense was fine IMO. 1 thing I think we all agree on is that he made it so Brissett exceeded a lot of our expectations in the sense our offense was averaging over 24 points a game more most of the time he started.

The problem was we would have a long sustained scoring drive of 5 or more minutes all forgotten when the opponent could get the 7 points right back from us scoring in half that amount of time.

I'm looking forward to seeing what all the changes we've made can do to improve that in 2023. More specifically, THIS YEAR. I like that phrase a lot.

I love his aggressiveness at times. I’m the last guy on this forum to complain about going for it on 4th and short and not taking the points or doing so in your own territory. By your own admission and our reality last year our defense gave up points - we had to score. I was usually dumbfounded by the play call…Remember 4th and 1 and we have Chubb on the sideline and Jacoby is throwing a 40 yard pass?

I don’t like the way he panics in close games in the second half. And forgets/loses our identity…we have Chubb and maulers and we do a pass to Schwartz on a crosser 20 yards downfield and we need 3 yards…on a key third down. I felt like the whole year we were spinning our wheels in key moments.

He got way too cute last year and it cost us some games.