Baltimore Ravens Sign ER Za’Darius Smith

NFL Offseason – Sometimes, in the NFL, you can go home again. Za’Darius Smith spent the first four seasons of his NFL career in Baltimore, amassing 18.5 sacks in 58 games. Then he moved on to Green Bay, where he blossomed with a pair of double-digit-sack seasons and two Pro Bowl appearances. Now he’s going back to Baltimore, signing a four-year deal worth up to $50 million, with $35 million in guarantees.

Smith turns 30 in September. He started every game for Green Bay in both 2019 and 2020, collecting 26.0 sacks along the way. He added three more sacks in four playoff games. Last season, however, he reported to training camp with a back injury and was placed on the Non-Football Injury list. He was limited to only 18 defensive snaps in the season opener against New Orleans, then missed the rest of the regular season. He did return to play 19 defensive snaps in the playoff loss to San Francisco. Even in that limited time, he managed to sack Jimmy Garoppolo once.

Smith’s return fills a major hole in the Baltimore lineup—Rob Weintraub wrote that edge rusher was Baltimore’s biggest need last week. In 2021, the Ravens were third-worst in both pass defense DVOA and adjusted sack rate. Turning to Pro Football Reference, we see that Baltimore ranked 24th in pressure rate, but only Detroit allowed more net yards per pass play. Tyus Bowser led Baltimore with 7.0 sacks, failing to make the top 40 players in the league in that category. Rookie Odafe Oweh led the club with 27 pressures. Smith’s numbers in his last healthy season: 12.5 sacks, 39 pressures. And those numbers were down from the 13.5 sacks and 50 pressures he had in 2019.

While Green Bay certainly would have liked to have kept Smith, their budget was limited after giving Aaron Rodgers a new deal and using the franchise tag to retain Davante Adams. They did win the NFC North without Smith last year, and Rashan Gary (a team-high 9.5 sacks) and Preston Smith (9.0) will both return in 2022.

Overall Za’Darius Smith Impact: Despite their horrible defense, the Ravens went 7-5 last year when Lamar Jackson started. With Jackson back healthy and improved defense (don’t forget, they also signed safety Marcus Williams for five years and $70 million), they are clearly the top contenders to Cincinnati in the AFC North, and might even emerge as favorites to win the division when all is said and done.

Fantasy Za’Darius Smith Impact: More sacks = more fantasy wins. The Ravens should see a nice fantasy rebound as a team defense, and Smith himself looks like a viable starter in IDP leagues.