Za'Darius Smith

11 seasons, 5 teams, 76.5 career sacks — a journeyman pass-rusher's resume.

Smith broke out as a rotational rusher in Baltimore (8.5 sacks in 2018) before exploding in Green Bay — 15.5 sacks in 2019, 13.5 in 2020, back-to-back Pro Bowls. A back injury wiped out essentially all of 2021 (1 game). He's rebuilt as a hired-gun veteran on three teams since: Vikings, Browns, Lions, and now Eagles.

29 sacks across 2019-2020 — the two-year Packers peak that made him a Pro Bowler.

Signed by Green Bay in 2019 after Baltimore let him walk, Smith immediately posted 15.5 sacks and 41 QB hits — both career highs. He followed it with 13.5 sacks and 25 hits in 2020. The 41 QB hits in 2019 ranked top-5 league-wide that season.

Those two years account for 29 of his career 76.5 sacks (38%) in a career stretching across a decade. Pro Bowl in both seasons; 2019 also produced an All-Pro Second Team nod.

2024 was a mid-season trade — 5 sacks in 8 games for Cleveland, then 4 in 9 games for Detroit.

Dealt from Cleveland to Detroit at the 2024 deadline, Smith was effectively the Lions' pass-rush reinforcement after Aidan Hutchinson's leg injury. 9.0 sacks combined for the year — his best total since 2022.

The split is telling: the Lions used him more as a complementary rusher (QB hits went up despite fewer sacks), while in Cleveland he was the primary edge threat opposite Myles Garrett.

Eagles signing in 2025 has produced just 1.5 sacks — a steep drop from his career rate.

Philadelphia added Smith mid-2025 on a one-year veteran deal. Through the snaps he's logged, he has 1.5 sacks, 3 QB hits, and 2 TFL — a rotational role behind Nolan Smith, Jalyx Hunt, and the Eagles' rookie edge crop.

The usage looks more like an early-down run-defender than a third-down pass-rush specialist, a notable shift for a player who racked up 41 QB hits in a single season just six years ago.

76.5 career sacks — within striking distance of 2010s-decade contemporaries like Cameron Jordan and Calais Campbell at the same age.

Smith entered the league in 2015 as a 4th-round pick — not the pedigree of most 75-sack rushers. The most-similar career arcs in this era are journeyman edge defenders who peaked in their late 20s with one team and earned a second contract elsewhere: K.J. Wright-style longevity, but as a pass-rusher.

The missing year (2021's torn ligament) probably cost him a shot at 100 career sacks. 6 forced fumbles, 9 PDs, 200+ QB pressures across his career still puts him in the top tier of his draft class for production.

Three Pro Bowls (2019, 2020, 2022) — and each came with a different team.

Smith is in a small club: three Pro Bowls, each in a different jersey. The Packers got his peak, but Minnesota's 2022 (10.0 sacks, 16 TFL) was the more impressive bounce-back — first season after the back injury that wiped out 2021.

That 2022 number set up his next contract in Cleveland. He's gone from prized free agent to mid-season rental to current depth piece — but the production curve says the player was real every time.