![\"Za'Darius](\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1880589206-e1706201998378.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=780\")
<\/p>\nThe\u00a0Cleveland Browns\u00a0are bound to shuffle the roster to some degree this offseason, but there\u2019s one free agent whose loss would impact the team greater than the rest.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus\u00a0proclaimed defensive end\u00a0Za\u2019Darius Smith\u00a0the player the Browns simply \u201ccan\u2019t afford to lose\u201d once free agency officially hits on March 13.<\/p>\n
\u201cCleveland traded for the veteran defensive lineman before the 2023 campaign, and while his sack production dipped from past seasons, Smith\u2019s pass-rush acumen is still very apparent. He can win lined up all across the formation,\u201d Spielberger wrote on Thursday, January 25. \u201cSmith\u2019s 90.1 pass-rush grade over the past two seasons ranks seventh among edge defenders, and his 16.6% pressure rate ranks ninth.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Cleveland](\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Cleveland-Browns-ZaDarius-Smith.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=782\")
<\/h2>\nSmith was a solid complement to\u00a0Myles Garrett, lining up opposite the 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year on the front of the league\u2019s top-rated defense.<\/p>\n
Spielberger\u2019s analysis of Smith\u2019s importance is based on advanced analytics and not traditional counting statistics, which helps measure a player\u2019s value between the lines \u2014 both literally and figuratively. That said, Smith wasn\u2019t without impact via the most traditional measurements either.<\/p>\n
The three-time Pro Bowler finished the season with 20 QB hits, 8 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks, per\u00a0Pro Football Reference. He also added 3 pass breakups and a forced fumble across 16 games played\/started.<\/p>\n
Opposing offensive lines had to account for Smith in a similar fashion to Garrett, which helped the league\u2019s top defender by drawing attention to the other side of the defensive front and limiting double-teams to at least some degree. Losing Smith potentially means more focus from offensive coordinators on taking Garrett out of the game in 2024.<\/p>\n
Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, who the Browns also added last offseason, is the most likely replacement for Smith in the lineup should Smith leave and should the Browns decide not to pursue another starting-level edge defender in free agency.<\/p>\n
Okoronkwo was solid in his first season with Cleveland, putting up\u00a012 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks in 14 appearances. However, his career production and prowess don\u2019t stack up to Smith\u2019s. As such, moving Okoronkwo out of the rotation and into a starting job would represent a step back for the Browns\u2019 defense, albeit a minor one.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
![\"Za'Darius](\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/GettyImages-1698915134-e1695986787992.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=782\")
<\/h2>\nThe concerns with keeping Smith in Cleveland are twofold.<\/p>\n
First is the defensive end\u2019s age. Smith will turn 32 years old just as the 2024 campaign begins and will be entering his 10th NFL season. That issue segues into the next, which is that Smith is likely to seek a multiyear contract that could be more expensive than Cleveland can afford.<\/p>\n
Smith restructured his contract in 2023 after the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0honored his trade request and sent him to Cleveland. The Browns paid the defensive end just shy of\u00a0$12 million\u00a0to play for them last season.<\/p>\n
The defensive end most recently signed a three-year,\u00a0$42 million deal\u00a0with Minnesota in March 2022. Two seasons have passed since then, but Smith played solidly and largely healthily for Cleveland in 2023 and earned Pro Bowl honors following his sole campaign with the Vikings.<\/p>\n
How much Smith is going to want, and over how many years, remains uncertain. Though one known in the equation is that the Browns are\u00a0$20.5 million\u00a0in the red with regards to their 2024 salary cap as of Thursday.<\/p>\n
Smith\u2019s age makes committing to him long-term a risk, and Cleveland must be exceedingly careful in how, and on whom, it spends its money as QB\u00a0Deshaun Watson\u00a0is set to carry a\u00a0$64 million cap hit\u00a0into each of the next three seasons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The\u00a0Cleveland Browns\u00a0are bound to shuffle the roster to some degree this offseason, but there\u2019s one free agent whose loss would impact the team greater than the rest…. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85072\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}