A former Packers pass rusher visited the Vikings on Monday.
Vikings host ex-Packers edge rusher Za'Darius Smith on free-agent visit
Smith, 29, was released by Green Bay last week in a cost-cutting move. He had 26 sacks between the 2019 and 2020 seasons before undergoing back surgery last year.
March 22, 2022 at 11:50AM
Za'Darius Smith, who was released by Green Bay last week in a cost-cutting move, continued his free-agent tour with a stop at TCO Performance Center. Smith documented the trip in his Instagram story, showing how the Vikings rolled out the purple carpet with a welcome message on the big screen overlooking TCO Stadium at team headquarters. The visit continued into Monday night.
Smith, 29, also has interest from the Chiefs and Cowboys, a league source said. He seemingly has options after reportedly backing out of a verbal agreement last week with the Ravens, where he started his NFL career as a 2015 fourth-round pick. He was drafted one round after the Vikings selected Danielle Hunter, with whom Smith could pair to create a potent pass rush should the Vikings eventually sign him.
Smith is coming off September back surgery that limited him to only one game for the Packers last season. He had 26 sacks between the 2019 and 2020 seasons, when new Vikings assistant head coach Mike Pettine was Green Bay's defensive coordinator. The Vikings also hired Smith's former position coach in Green Bay, outside linebackers coach Mike Smith, to the same role in Minnesota. The pass rusher's single-game career high came against the Vikings when Smith had 3.5 sacks at U.S. Bank Stadium in December 2019.
If the Vikings can afford him, the defense could use Smith's talent and experience on the edge of a new 3-4 front under coordinator Ed Donatell. Outside of Hunter, Minnesota has 16 career starts at the position — all from third-year end D.J. Wonnum. Patrick Jones, Janarius Robinson and Kenny Willekes are also under contract.
The Packers released Smith, a two-time Pro Bowler, last week to save more than $15 million in salary cap space. The Vikings would likely need to clear cap room to add a player of Smith's caliber. One way could be by converting Hunter's recent roster bonus into a signing bonus to spread out the cap charges into future seasons.
The NFL free agent market has been kind to veteran edge rushers this month. Five players — the Raiders' Maxx Crosby, the Bills' Von Miller, the Titans' Harold Landry, the Raiders' Chandler Jones and the Eagles' Haason Reddick — agreed to contracts reportedly worth at least $15 million per season and for at least $30 million in guarantees. The contract that Smith backed out of in Baltimore was said to be worth up to $12.5 million per year.
Smith played only 18 snaps last season. They came during the Packers' season opener while he tried to play through a nagging back injury that he had upon reporting to training camp. He spent time on the non-football injury list during camp and landed on injured reserve following surgery.
"Would have been nice to have him out there the whole time, because our defense was playing at a very high level," Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst said of Smith at the NFL scouting combine this month. "What Za'Darius can bring is certainly something we missed at times, you know? Really proud of Rashan [Gary] and Jonathan Garvin and Preston [Smith] and those guys, the way they picked up the slack. Za'Darius is a really, really good player."
In other news, Bills offensive lineman Ryan Bates is expected to take his next free agent visit in Chicago on Tuesday, according to a league source. Bates, the 25-year-old guard who started five games for Buffalo last year, visited the Vikings last week and most recently wrapped up a trip to New England's facilities on Monday. He's a restricted free agent, meaning the Bills can match any offer he gets.
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.
