Za'Darius Smith update: Detroit Lions' Brad Holmes talks about pass rusher's return

• The Detroit Lions have not recently communicated with Za’Darius Smith or his representatives about a potential return to the team.
• Smith was released by the Lions in March due to salary cap constraints, despite having 4 sacks and 40 pressures in 8 games.
• While the Lions initially expressed openness to Smith’s return, no new discussions have taken place since the NFL annual meetings.

From the sound of it, a possible reunion between the Detroit Lions and Za’Darius Smith isn’t imminent.

The organization hasn’t had any recent conversations with the pass rusher or his representative, general manager Brad Holmes said Thursday.

“I think we kind of left it as that his agent would let us know if something was going on or if anything has changed or if we have any updates, but no we haven’t had any discussions since the annual meetings,” Holmes revealed.

The Lions released Smith on March 10 in a cost-cutting move just four months after executing a trade with the Cleveland Browns to acquire him and a 2026 seventh-round pick in exchange for one Day 3 selection in each of the 2025 and 2026 drafts. Late last month, Holmes said the team couldn’t “afford” to keep Smith, who generated 40 pressures and collected four sacks in eight games with Detroit. He was set to make just $1.5 million in base salary this year but would have been owed $8.99 million in bonus money if he remained on the roster.

Management approached Smith about taking a pay cut, but he elected to explore his options on the open market. Smith remains unsigned and the Lions haven’t added any new pass rushers via free agency.

Last week, Smith was spotted at a Detroit Pistons game and Holmes previously indicated he would leave the door open for the 32-year-old veteran to return, saying earlier this month the organization had maintained a dialogue with his agent.

But apparently the line has gone silent the past two weeks, which seems to signal that if Smith were to rejoin the Lions it’s not expected to happen in the immediate future.

Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him @RainerSabin on X.