Camila Sosa
The Minnesota Vikings announced Tuesday the signing of Za’Darius Smith, one of the best players available in free agency, with a view to bolstering their defense for next season.
According to NFL Network’s Mike Pelissero, the organization reached a three-season, $42 million deal with the linebacker, which can increase to $47M with some incentives.
Smith was released by the Vikings’ archrivals in the AFC North, the Green Bay Packers, after the latter needed to free up space to avoid exceeding the salary cap imposed by the NFL.
Despite having played only one commitment last season due to a back injury, the quality demonstrated by Za’Darius Smith in recent campaigns allowed him to get a signature of approximately $14M dollars per year, the twelfth highest figure among the outside linebackers of the circuit.
Smith’s signing surprised the NFL world a bit not only because he went to the team’s top rival for three seasons, but after being released by the Packers, the defensive back reached a verbal agreement with the Baltimore Ravens, a team with which he debuted in 2015. However, in the end the contract was never signed.
Za’Darius Smith (29 years old) arrives to bolster pressure on opposing quarterbacks, an area in which the Vikings finished second last season with 51 sacks and which he will share with Danielle Hunter. The latter is one of the best on the circuit in terms of the art of capturing QB, but he has had some injuries over the past two seasons, and if this situation were to change, it will be somenthing to get really worried about.
Za’Darius Smith Career in the NFL
The two-time Pro-Bowl pick has seven years of experience in the NFL, four with the Ravens and three with the Packers.
Smith was taken in the fourth round of the 2015 draft by Baltimore, a team with which he developed and totaled 18.5 sacks in 58 games played, 16 of them as a starter.
However, it wasn’t until his arrival in Green Bay that Smith positioned himself as one of the best outside linebackers in the league. During his four-year, $66 million contract, Za’Darius often carried the Packers’ defense, which will miss him too much this season.
In his first two seasons Smith played 16 games with Green Bay, and finished among the league leaders with 13.5 sacks in 2019 and 12.5 sacks in 2020. In addition, he recorded 108 tackles and forced five fumbles, two of them recovered by himself.
