Browns GM Andrew Berry broke down the decision to move on from Za'Darius Smith.
After weeks and weeks of speculation, the Cleveland Browns finally decided to make a trade a month in the making: Za'Darius Smith was shipped to the Detroit Lions with a 2026 seventh-round draft pick for the surprisingly reasonable price of a 2025 fifth-round and a 2026 sixth-round draft picks.
Could the Browns have gotten more back for Smith if they simply let him leave in free agency via a compensatory pick? It depends on how the rest of free agency shook out, but at this point, any speculation on the matter is now moot; with the deadline passed, there's nothing left to do but undergo an autopsy on the situation to try to better understand what happened.
Fortunately, reporters were afforded a chance to address the situation with the man who pulled the trigger on the deal in GM Andrew Berry, who broke down the deal in a special post-trade deadline press conference that turned into more of a rehash of the Deshaun Watson trade.
“So, I'd say with the trade deadline; I think you've heard me say that as a general manager, that you're constantly balancing the short term and the long term, the present, and the future,” Berry told reporters.
“And in terms of the Za'Darius trade, I guess it's maybe a little bit like what we talked about with Amari. It's not always about, let's say, moving on from a vet, and some of those decisions are made with the idea that there are other players on the roster that you do want to see in a more expanded role. Z played a lot of good football for us, and we were pleased with him. But every decision that we make we think is in the best interest of the team. Whether that's short term, and long term.”
How does trading a player like Smith, who is easily the Browns' number two rusher, make the team better? Granted, it absolutely opens up more snaps for Ogbo Okoronkwo, who has only played 38 percent of the team's defensive snaps this season, and for Isaiah McGuire, who is just over 30 percent, but is that really it? If giving those two players more snaps was the goal of the move – plus the draft picks – then yeah, I guess Berry made the right call, but saying it makes the Browns better overall is a tough way to describe a move that wouldn't have happened if the team was 7-2, not 2-7.
Za'Darius Smith wasn't the only player the Browns discussed trading
Turning his attention from the deal that did get done to the ones that didn't, Berry was asked if the Browns received any serious calls about any other players and how active his phoneline was ahead of 4 pm EST. While Berry smartly didn't name any names – that would have been awkward – he did note that there were plenty of conversations that didn't end in a trade in addition to the one that did.
“I think you guys, or most of you in this room, know we're always active in the trade market. Whether it's acquiring or looking for opportunities that make sense for us. So that'll never change, regardless of where we are in the season. In terms of moving back the deadline, and the activity, I don't know that I know enough to comment on that because I'm not sure if there was increased volume or not. I guess my instinctive sense would be like, it was a positive thing. But I'm also probably biased because I wanted to see it move back, if I'm being truthful. But I don't know that I have a great response for that at this current moment.”
Whoa, which other players were teams calling about? Could Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah have been on the move had he not been placed on IR with a scary neck injury? Or maybe a wildcard like Jerry Jeudy, who leads the team in receiving yards but is far from a difference maker? Interesting stuff, interesting stuff.
