The 4-1 Detroit Lions look like they have all the makings of a Super Bowl team this season, but they are now forced to deal with the loss of their best defensive player as star edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson is out for the season after breaking his leg against the Dallas Cowboys last week.
After Hutchinson went down, many immediately wondered who the Browns might target on the trade market to serve as his replacement, and the Cleveland Browns have one guy whose name has popped up quite a bit.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter shared that one player Detroit might look to target as a Hutchinson replacement is Browns defensive end Za’Darius Smith, according to league sources.
One player the Lions could be interested in to try to help replace Aidan Hutchinson this season is Browns’ three-time Pro-Bowl defensive end Za'Darius Smith, per league sources. Smith has 63 career sacks and Cleveland prefers not to trade him, but would be expected to listen. https://t.co/O1EUgDU5iR
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 20, 2024
Smith has made three Pro Bowls and has 63 career sacks, and even though Schefter said Cleveland prefers to keep him, he said the Browns would be expected to listen if somebody called.
At 1-5, few players are off limits in trades for the Browns, especially after the team has already opened the floodgates and made its intentions clear by trading No. 1 wide receiver Amari Cooper earlier in the week.
Smith is 32 and has 16 tackles and three sacks so far this season after posting 5.5 sacks in his debut season with the Browns last year.
He is in the first year of a 2-year, $23 million deal, but hasn’t produced the double-digit sack numbers he used to routinely put up during his days in the NFC North with the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings.
A Smith trade isn’t likely, but you never know given how this season is going for the Browns.
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