NFL trade grades: Lions swing big to find their Aidan Hutchinson replacement

The Detroit Lions' search for pass rushing help has been an open secret for weeks now, ever since star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson suffered a gruesome leg injury against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6. Aaron Glenn's defense has done an admirable job staying afloat without its best player, and Detroit has won three in a row since Hutchinson went down — including two impressive wins over NFC North foes on the road. But that just further underlined the need to make a trade: Even without Hutchinson, this team was clearly good enough to make the Super Bowl with the right moves.

As the days and weeks went by, it looked like GM Brad Holmes might be letting that golden opportunity pass him by. One potential Hutchinson replacement after another began to disappear, either landing with another team or being taken off the trade block entirely, and options started drying up with precious little time left ahead of the trade deadline. On Tuesday morning, however, the Lions finally found their man: Per Ian Rapoport, Detroit has acquired Za'Darius Smith from the Cleveland Browns.

Detroit is sending a 2025 fifth-rounder and a 2026 sixth-rounder to Cleveland, and will also receive a 2026 seventh-rounder as part of the deal.

NFL trade grades: Who won the Lions-Browns trade for Za'Darius Smith?

It's hard to find much fault on the Lions side of this deal. Entering the postseason with Josh Paschal as your best edge rusher simply wasn't tenable, and Smith was easily the best remaining option on the trade market: The three-time Pro Bowler has notched double-digit sacks in three of his last four full seasons, and he's got five through nine games so far in 2024. PFF puts his pass-rush grade for the year at 71.1, 24th at the position in the league and well ahead of every other healthy player on Detroit's roster. At 32, he's not as overwhelming as he was at his peak with the Green Bay Packers, but he's still a very solid player against both the run and the pass.

He also doesn't represent a significant commitment, either in salary or in draft capital. Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, Detroit will be picking up the remaining $605,000 of Smith's salary this season. He has one year remaining on his current deal, but that $11 million is non-guaranteed, giving the Lions the option of pairing Smith with Hutchinson off the edge next year or cutting bait if things don't pan out for whatever reason. This was the best Holmes and Co. could hope to do in a difficult situation, and they hardly had to dip into their draft picks to do it.

For the Browns, meanwhile, this is ... well, fine is probably the best word. Cleveland were obvious sellers after a loss to the Chargers this weekend dropped the team to 2-7, and a rebuilding team doesn't have much use for a 32-year-old pass rusher with one non-guaranteed year left on his contract. Reports suggest that the Browns were hoping to land a fourth-rounder for Smith, but that was hardly realistic given the team's lack of leverage — either deal Smith prior to 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday or lose him for nothing — and the other pass rushers that have switched teams in recent days. Cleveland was right to move Smith for whatever they could get, but this trade hardly moves the needle.

Lions trade grade: A

Browns trade grade: C+