Atlanta wins a tug-of-war it was not supposed to win
Cleveland thought it had him. Atlanta got him.
Za’Darius Smith signed a one-year deal with the Falcons, the team announced this morning. Reports had the veteran defensive end heading back to the Browns. Then he flew to Atlanta for a workout on Monday, liked what he heard, and never made the return trip. The Falcons appear to have pushed their offer far enough to flip a decision that looked settled 48 hours ago.
The urgency behind that push is easy to trace. Atlanta has lost two defensive ends this month alone. James Pearce Jr. was handed an eight-game suspension by the league. Jalon Walker went down with a knee injury on August 4 that ended his season before it started. A position group built to be a strength turned into the roster’s biggest hole with three weeks left before Week 1.
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A coach who already knows what he is getting
Smith and Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski spent 2023 and 2024 together in Cleveland, so neither man is walking into this blind. Stefanski knows the rush package he wants Smith in. Smith knows the standards. For a signing made in the third week of August, that shared history matters more than it usually would, because there is almost no runway left to install anything new.
The last 12 months make the deal harder to read. Smith signed a one-year, $9 million contract with Philadelphia last year, played five games, left the team and announced his retirement. He is 33 and coming off a season he chose to abandon. Atlanta is betting the layoff sharpened him rather than eroded him.
What it actually changes
Depth, first of all. Nobody in Atlanta is claiming Smith at this stage replaces what Walker was projected to give them over 17 games. What he gives them is a rotation piece who has rushed the passer at a high level in this league for a decade and who will not need October to figure out the playbook.
Whether that holds up across a full season is the open question. The Falcons have committed to one year and very little risk, which tells you roughly how confident they are.
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