Za'Darius Smith Trade Grades: Do Analysts Think Vikings Got Enough Back?

The Vikings traded star pass rusher Za'Darius Smith to the Browns on Friday evening, making the decision to move on from the three-time Pro Bowler after just one season.

Minnesota didn't get much in return, sending a sixth-round pick and a seventh-rounder and getting back two fifths. But there are myriad reasons for that, most notably Smith's contract situation and the cap space the Vikings created in the deal.

Still, even if it was an understandable move from Minnesota's perspective, losing a player of Smith's caliber for a minimal return will always look a bit odd on paper.

For some additional perspective, let's check out the grades the Vikings received on this trade from a few different national writers.

Jeff Howe, The Athletic: C

It’d be disingenuous to say the Vikings defense is going to improve without Smith. It’s just not practical.

But when a player doesn’t want to be there, teams often don’t have much of a choice. The draft compensation won’t yield any dividends for quite a while, but it’s a better outcome than losing Smith for nothing.

Meanwhile, Minnesota will be counting on big production from Danielle Hunter and free agent import Marcus Davenport.

Bryan DeArdo, CBS Sports: B

One would think that the Vikings would have been able to get more for a player of Smith's caliber. Despite that fact, the Vikings were able to improve their future draft capital. Smith's salary, the fact that he will be a free agent next year and the fact that we're this late in the offseason surely limited the Vikings' options.

Minnesota gets a B largely because, by dealing Smith, they achieved their main goal of saving salary cap space. Removing Smith from the payroll allows them to keep other notable players that may include running back Dalvin Cook, whose future in Minnesota has also come under question as of late.

Cory Woodroof, USA Today's For The Win: B-

Minnesota didn’t really have a lot of options on the table if Smith really wanted out and possibly wouldn’t have reported for offseason training.

However, it’s hard to say this move helps the Vikings keep tabs on the ever-changing NFC North right now. The team signed outside linebacker Marcus Davenport in free agency but only on a one-year deal.

Davenport’s injury history makes him a bit of a risk to pair with Danielle Hunter, who is now Minnesota’s de-facto edge rusher. Having Smith would’ve certainly helped this season, but if he wanted out, he wanted out.

Undrafted edge rusher Andre Carter II could wind up playing a key role in the future after his draft stock strangely fell, but the Vikings have just lost 10 sacks on their defensive line. That’s not something you can easily replace, and they’re trying to retain the division crown this fall.

Minnesota might want to look to free agency to add another veteran rusher in case Davenport gets hurt. Heck, maybe give Clowney a call?

Alicia de Artola, FanSided: B

We’ll start with Minnesota, the team with less leverage to work with considering their cap space situation.

The alternative to trading Smith was cutting him to save cap space. With this deal, they managed to get something in return while adding somewhere in the $12-13 million range in cap room.

That’s a pretty penny to save while getting a couple of mid-round draft picks for their trouble.

Is that “haul” worthy of an edge rusher who had 10 sacks and made the Pro Bow last year? Definitely not, but in terms of the Vikings’ needs, this did the trick. And hey, sending him to the Browns is better than risking him landing with an NFC rival in free agency…again.

They don’t get a higher grade because this amounts to a salary dump and they let the other team essentially “win” the trade.

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