When the Detroit Lions acquired Za'Darius Smith at last season's trade deadline, they did so knowing how his contract was structured. It was clear that contract would be adjusted if he was going to stay with the team in 2025, but all he did was deliver as hoped and prove he should stick around.
Ultimately, the Lions releasing Smith before free agency started wasn't a shocker. He was due nearly $9 million in bonuses on the third day of the league year, and they could clear a little cap space with no dead money by cutting him. It's unclear if there were any talks about a contract restructure or a pay cut, and his history says Smith probably wasn't on-board with taking a pay cut if that was brought up.
In light of what the Lions have, or haven't, done to address their need at edge rusher, and with a notable development in his personal life, the notion Smith could return has surfaced. Marcus Davenport was notably re-signed, but the next time he doesn't miss time in a season will be the first time. If it was an either-or decision that led to choosing Davenport over Smith, it was the wrong choice.
Brad Holmes offers lame excuse for releasing Za'Darius Smith
Lions general manager Brad Holmes spoke to reporters at the NFL Owner's Meetings in Florida Monday morning. He talked about releasing Smith, with the cap implications for 2025 and 2026 (a void year) whether he was on team or not.
"We couldn't afford it," Holmes said, via Nolan Bianchi of The Detroit News. "That's the bottom line. That was my communication with him and he understood that. We just weren't in a position to really keep him at his salary, because look, he played some good snaps for us and he made plays for us when we acquired him, so we would have loved to be able to keep him, but we just weren't able to."
It's very possible a restructuring of Smith's contract, with the four void years the Cleveland Browns tacked onto it, was untenable. And yes, that $8.99 million in bonus money coming due all at once on the third day of the league year was a notable thing. And also yes, the Lions have a lot of notable contract extensions coming that require planning for.
Holmes did say the Lions have maintained contact with Smith, which keeps the door open for a quick reunion. The compensatory draft pick formula could push a move to after the draft now.
"We've been keeping in touch with his agent, and he understands that process, so we'll just see how it goes", Holmes said.
While "we couldn't afford it is" is the type of simple, direct answer we'd expect from Holmes, it's also a lame excuse for releasing Smith. Contract extensions signed this offseason won't fully hit the balance sheet this year. Holmes hates talk of a "Super Bowl window", but the Lions are in one and it gets narrower each year that goal is not reached.
Holmes is not to going to do anything but offer the unvarnished truth, which is to be appreciated. In this case though, he might have been better off saying Smith asked for his release rather than "we couldn't afford it" (i.e. him).
