The possibility of a reunion between Za'Darius Smith and the Detroit Lions still seems to be on the table.
It's been a winding road for the two sides this offseason.
At the start of the offseason, Smith customized a Lions Super Bowl ring for himself and made it abundantly clear that he still wanted to play in Detroit.
Then the Lions released him to save some cap space.
Since then, fans have been waiting to see the two sides reunite as the Lions have done little else to address their need for another dependable pass rusher.
Despite the long wait and general manager Brad Holmes previously stating the team couldn't afford Smith, it seems there is still a chance he could find his way back to the Lions.
Holmes recently spoke to 97.1 The Ticket and said the Lions that Smith's experience makes it so the Lions wouldn't be worried about bringing him back after missing time in training camp.
Holmes said, “Za’Darius did a lot of good things last year for us, and we said we’re going to keep in contact with his agent. But, you know, everything’s not just one-sided. Za’Darius has expectations, the team has expectations, so sometimes it takes a while for those things to get on the same page, especially a guy that’s been in the league as long as he has."
He added, “I’m not saying that he doesn’t want to be in training camp, but if he misses some time… there’s obviously still interest there, and we’ve been keeping in touch.”
I've already made my thoughts on a Smith reunion pretty clear this offseason. I've been saying for months that Smith needed to be in a Lions uniform at the start of the regular season.
He played just half the 2024 season with the Lions, but still had more than sacks than everybody on the roster but Aidan Hutchinson.
Smith was able to get consistent pressure on QBs throughout the season with both the Lions and the Browns.
He still has plenty left in the tank and the Lions only currently have one healthy player they know they can depend on to consistently pressure opposing QBs.
There's not a whole lot to figure out in this situation. Hopefully the Lions get this right and bring Smith back for one more season to send out the best version of their defense possible as they chase a ring.
