He Detroit LionsThe search for help rushing the passer has been an open secret for weeks, ever since star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson suffered a horrible leg injury against him dallas cowboys in Week 6. Aaron Glenn’s defense has done an admirable job staying afloat without its best player, and Detroit has won three straight since Hutchinson went down, including two impressive victories over NFC North foes along the way. But that further underscored the need to make a trade: Even without Hutchinson, this team was clearly good enough to make the Super Bowl with the right moves.

As the days and weeks went by, it looked like general manager Brad Holmes might be passing up that golden opportunity. One possible Hutchinson replacement after another started to disappeareither landing with another team or being taken off the trade block entirely, and options began to run out with very little time left before the trade deadline. However, on Tuesday morning, the Lions finally found their man: according to Ian Rapoport, Detroit acquired Za’Darius Smith from the Cleveland Browns.

Detroit will send a 2025 fifth-rounder and a 2026 sixth-rounder to Cleveland, and will also receive a 2026 seventh-rounder as part of the deal.

It’s hard to find much fault on the Lions’ part with this deal. Entering the postseason with Josh Paschal as your top running back simply wasn’t sustainable, and Smith was easily the best remaining option on the trade market: The three-time Pro Bowler has posted double-digit sacks in three of his last four full seasons. , and has five to nine games so far in 2024. PFF puts its fast pass grade for the year with 71.1, 24th in the league and well ahead of any other healthy player on Detroit’s roster. At 32 years old, he is not as overwhelming as he was in his prime with the Green Bay Packersbut he is still a very solid player against both the run and the pass.

Nor does it represent a significant commitment, neither in salary nor in project capital. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Detroit will pick up the remaining $605,000 of Smith’s salary this season. He has one year left on his current contract, but that $11 million is non-guaranteed, giving the Lions the option of pairing Smith with Hutchinson off the cap next year or cutting bait if things don’t work out for any reason. reason. This was the best Holmes and company could hope to do in a difficult situation, and they barely had to resort to their draft picks to do it.

For the Browns, meanwhile, this is… well, good is probably the best word. Cleveland was an obvious seller after a loss to the Chargers this weekend dropped the team to 2-7, and a rebuilding team doesn’t have much use for a 32-year-old pass rusher with one non-guaranteed year left on his contract. Information suggest The Browns were hoping to land a fourth-round pick for Smith, but that wasn’t realistic given the team’s lack of leverage (trade Smith before 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday or lose him for nothing) and the other pass rushers they’ve traded. teams in recent days. Cleveland was wise to trade Smith for whatever they could get, but this trade hardly moves the needle.

Lions Commercial Grade: A

Commercial grade of browns: C+