Former Green Bay Packers pass rusher Za’Darius Smith is signing a four-year, $35 million, $50 million maximum deal with the Baltimore Ravens, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Wednesday.
The move reunites Smith with the team that selected him in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He spent his first four seasons in Baltimore.
The Packers released Smith on March 14 as part of a series of steps needed to stay out of the pay cap.
The addition of Smith addresses one of the Ravens’ biggest offseason needs. Baltimore hit just 21 sacks in his standard rush (four or more rushers) last season, which is 26th in the league.
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With Justin Houston a free agent, returning forwards Odafe Oveh, Tyus Bowser and Jaylon Ferguson have racked up 27 career layoffs. Baltimore has not had a single player reach double-digit sacks in a season since Terrell Suggs in 2017.
The Ravens have made strides in upgrading the defense, which last season allowed 23.1 points per game, the fourth most in franchise history. In addition to Smith, Baltimore signed a five-year, $70 million deal with Marcus Williams on Tuesday.
Smith, who appeared in the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons with the Packers (2019 and 2020) and was a second-team All-Pro in 2020, played just 18 snaps last year in the regular season. Everyone came in the season opener before he had back surgery. He did not return until the NFC Divisional Playoff game in a loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
In the final offseason, Smith tried to secure a contract extension with the Packers, even switching agents in May. However, he dealt with a back injury that kept him out of training during the off-season and most of training camp.
Smith was the most expensive free agent ever signed by general manager Brian Gutekunst, who signed him to a four-year, $66 million contract. He lived up to it from the start by hitting the most sacks (26) by a player in his first two seasons with the Packers. He was one of three NFL players with over 12 sacks in 2019 and 2020, joining Aaron Donald and TJ Watt.
Smith, 29, has 44.5 sacks in seven NFL seasons.
Rob Demovski and Jamison Hensley of ESPN contributed to this report.