The Lions traded for Smith last season after their own star pass rusher, Aidan Hutchinson, suffered a season-ending leg injury. With the Browns nowhere close to contention, they were happy to part with Smith in exchange for some future assets. Smith has been connected to the Lions again this offseason, though evidently that hasn’t gone anywhere. His free agent market has been surprisingly quiet.

Though Smith will turn 33 around the start of the season, that hasn’t affected his play at all. He’s coming off a nine-sack, 35-tackle season with the Browns and Lions. PFF graded him out at 71.7, good for 31st at the position. In 2022 and 2023, he had PFF grades of 85.9 and 86.8, respectively. He combined for 15 sacks during that span as one of the best secondary pass rushers in the league.

Smith isn’t the type to anchor a top-flight pass rush on his own. But if a team already has a star who needs a running mate, or if a team needs a great option to factor into a rotation, Smith is as good as they come.

Smith, 32, is a former fourth-round pick of the Ravens back in 2015. He played out the final year of his four-year rookie contract before agreeing to a four-year, $66 million contract with the Packers in 2019. 

Smith had one year remaining on his contract and was set to make a base salary of $14,500,000 for the 2021 season when the Packers released him. 

The Ravens reached an agreement with Smith on a four-year deal worth $35 million, but he opted to back out of the deal and sign a three-year, $42 million contract with the Vikings. From there, the Vikings traded Smith to the Browns, and he agreed to a two-year, $23.5 million contract with Cleveland.

The Browns traded Smith to the Lions along with a 2026 seventh-round pick in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2026 sixth-round pick. Detroit released him before the final year of his deal. 

In 2024, Smith appeared in 17 games for the Lions and the Browns and recorded 35 tackles and nine sacks in 16 starts.

We have him included in our Top 100 Available NFL Free Agents list.

Detroit Lions

There have been rumblings that the Lions are interested in bringing Smith back, but so far that hasn’t materialized. On paper, it makes a lot of sense. When Hutchinson went down with that injury, it was immediately apparent Detroit didn’t have anyone else on the roster who could generate consistent pressure on the quarterback. The trade for Smith helped bridge the void created by Hutchinson’s absence, but entering 2025, the Lions find themselves in largely the same position.

Help for Hutchinson was one of Detroit’s top offseason priorities, but it didn’t materialize. Hutchinson should be back healthy to start the year, but his current running mates are Marcus Davenport and Josh Paschal. I’m a big fan of sixth-round pick Ahmed Hassanein, but he’s not ready to be a major contributor right away. Even if Davenport can stay healthy and produce, the Lions are one of the top contenders entering the year. You can never have enough pass rushers, and re-signing Smith makes a ton of sense.

Baltimore Ravens

How about another possible reunion for Smith, this time in Baltimore? The Ravens have one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the NFL and should be primed for a run at a Super Bowl title. If there’s one thing that could hold them back, though, it might be their pass rush. Nnamdi Madubuike will hold things down on the interior, but on the edge, Odafe Oweh, Kyle Van Noy and second-rounder Mike Green form the top three. Oweh is a former first-round pick who’s never been able to fully emerge as “the guy” at pass rusher. Van Noy is still productive but getting older, and Green is a rookie whose expectations should probably be tempered.

There’s a risk going into the season with those three as your top options, and the Ravens haven’t been shy recently about adding older veterans to bolster key positions. A year ago, that was RB Derrick Henry, a decision that paid off beautifully. This year, that’s WR DeAndre Hopkins and CB Jaire Alexander. In a similar vein, Baltimore could sign Smith, a perennial double-digit sack guy who could serve as a one-year rental.

Denver Broncos

When I was scanning for teams that could use Smith’s services, the Broncos stuck out to me as a sneaky team who might have a weaker depth chart at edge defender than you’d think. The starters are set between Nik Bonitto and Jonathan Cooper, but it gets thin quickly behind them. Jonah Elliss is the projected third pass rusher as it stands today, and though he had a decent rookie season, it’s a leap of faith to pencil him into a major role this year.

Convincing Smith to sign on for a backup role might be tricky, but he’d still be on the field a ton in Denver. The Broncos made a surprise playoff run last year and return one of the stronger rosters in the AFC. If second-year quarterback Bo Nix can build upon his impressive rookie season, Denver will be one of the favorites in the AFC. Signing Smith would signify they believe in themselves and would give them arguably the best defense in the league.

Other teams to watch: Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Bears

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