Dan Campbell, Brad Holmes and the powers at be at the Detroit Lions have been working hard during the offseason to reshape the team for a 2025 run. This isn’t an easy task, since the team lost a handful of significant coaches, as well as players, following the Lions’ loss to the Washington Commanders in the playoffs.
Not everyone can stay for another year. Campbell and company have been forced to make some difficult decisions going into 2025, and one of those might come back to bite them.
Detroit Lions Criticized for Letting Star Player Go
The Detroit Lions parted ways with Za’Darius Smith during the offseason, and with good reason. With the way his contract was structured, it would have been costly to bring him back for another year, so the Lions released the veteran edge rusher right as the free agency season started. Doing so, the Detroit Lions were able to clear $5.7 million in cap space, which, of course, will come in handy.
Even if the Lions had no choice other than to release Smith, NFL analyst and expert Brad Berreman of SideLion Report begs the question, what are they doing to fill their edge rusher need?
“Re-signing Marcus Davenport is the headliner move to this point, which says it all amid some other lower-level re-signings,” Berreman stated in a March 24 piece, titled “Foolishness of Lions letting Za’Darius Smith go is being proven more and more.”
“There seems to be a total deference to a deep draft class at edge rusher to more notably fill the need,” Berreman adds. “If it was a one or the other choice between Smith and Davenport, there’s a solid argument the Lions made the wrong choice.”
Could the Lions Bring Za’Darius Smith Back?
Smith is still available as free agency goes on, so it’s possible the Lions could bring him back.
“It would tilt toward unlikely if the reason for his release was rooted in being asked to take a pay cut, But if he’s not finding what he expected on the open market, the door to come back is theoretically open,” Berreman notes.
In a March 22 feature about a handful of former Detroit Lions players who haven’t found new homes yet, Cem Yolbulan of Detroit Jock City notes, “Despite being a three-time Pro Bowler and a productive defensive end throughout his career, Smith has found it hard to stick with a team.”
Yolbulan adds, “Since 2021, he has played for four different teams, including the Packers, Vikings and the Lions. If he were to sign elsewhere, it would be his sixth team in his 11th season in the NFL.”
In the end, Lions followers are waiting to see if the team has plans to beef up their defensive line and add a solid edge rusher or if they just don’t know what to do at the moment.
“The Lions have sat on their hands to add a proven edge rusher who can stay on the field, after having one in their midst they didn’t necessarily have to let go,” Berreman states. “Maybe time proves them correct or there’s a plan that has yet to be revealed, but letting Smith go is looking more and more foolish.”
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