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The Detroit Lions are looking to get back to the dominance they possessed last season, and they want to finish the job this time around. They're bringing back most of the same team, and expectations will once again be high for an offense that was one of the best in the league.
The defense was also impressive until they went down with injuries late in the year. To help offset the injuries, Za'Darius Smith was brought in, but they have not re-signed him as he's currently a free agent. General manager Brad Holmes spoke about the possibility of bringing Smith back to the team.
“Za'Darius did a lot of good things last year for us and we said we’re going to keep in contact with his agent, but everything’s not just one-sided,” Holmes said via 97.1 The Ticket. “Za'Darius has expectations, the team has expectations, so sometimes it takes a while for those things to get on the same page. Especially a guy that’s been in the league as long as he has, I’m not saying that he doesn’t want to be in training camp, but if he misses some time, there’s obviously still interest there and we’ve been keeping in touch.
Smith had nine sacks in 17 games last season, including four in eight games with the Lions. It would be nice for the Lions to have that kind of production back on their defensive line, but this time for an entire season.
Should the Lions bring back Za'Darius Smith?
The Lions traded for Smith last season because of the season-ending injury to Aidan Hutchinson. Having both on the field at the same time would be great for the Lions, and months ago, ESPN's Matt Bowden made a great case for the Lions to bring him back.
“Smith was productive after getting traded from Cleveland to Detroit before the deadline last season,” Bowen wrote. “In eight games with the Lions, he had four sacks and 20 pressures. He's a speed-to-power rusher who can get interior one-on-ones as a standup nose tackle or 3-technique. That'd give Detroit's new defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard more matchup ability up front.”
If the Lions want to continue being one of the best teams in the NFC, they'll need to load up on as much talent as they can. At the same time, Smith has to want to come back to the Lions, and it seems like he's still weighing his options with many teams probably interested in him.
