The Vikings' former Pro Bowler joins NFC North rivals heading into the deadline

Former Vikings and Packers Pro Bowl edge rusher Za'Darius Smith is headed to the third NFC North team of his career as he trades from the Browns to the NFL in an unsurprising deal at the start of the NFL deadline was transferred to the division leading Lions.

Detroit reportedly sent a fifth-round pick and a sixth-round pick for Smith, as well as a seventh. This is a big move to bring a proven player in a glaring area of ​​need to one of the NFL's best teams. Smith is also under contract for the coming season.

The Lions, who have won six straight and are 7-1, are a first-tier Super Bowl contender. They are currently atop the NFC and have a comfortable lead in DVOA. But since losing superstar Aidan Hutchinson for the season, they desperately needed to add an edge rusher.

For this reason, Smith has made perfect sense as a possible target for weeks. He had his usual success on a bad Browns team this year, recording five sacks and 27 pressures in nine weeks. 17 of those pressures came in Cleveland's last three games. Smith, 32, was a two-time Pro Bowler with the Packers (2019, 2020) and also earned that distinction in his only season with the Vikings in 2022. He is still a very good, consistent pressure generator who can play anywhere in a defensive front.

This addition only makes the red-hot Lions even more dangerous. They still don't have a non-Hutchinson edge rusher with more than eight appearances on the season, so Smith clearly sets the floor and ceiling here. He will be a strong complement to the dangerous interior passers Alim McNeill and Levi Onwuzurike.

At 6-2, the Vikings are just one game behind the Lions and have an easy schedule over the next few weeks. Does this move, while expected, put even more pressure on Minnesota to keep pace in the division by making its own defensive addition today?

The trade deadline is 3:00 p.m. CT.