All-Pro Pass Rusher Defects from Packers to Join Vikings
Dustin Baker
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The Minnesota Vikings are reportedly signing former Green Bay Packers EDGE rusher Za’Darius Smith to pair with Danielle Hunter this September.
While the Vikings signed defensive tackle Harrison Phillips and linebacker Jordan Hicks this offseason, Smith to Minnesota is, by far, the splashiest Vikings addition of 2022 — and arguably the last several years.
Smith missed almost all of the 2021 season with a back injury, causing the Packers to move on — especially as the Wisconsin team was “up against it” for cap space. Smith departs Green Bay inside the same week that Davante Adams was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders. Changes, indeed.
Before the back injury, Smith was dominant as a Packer, even slicing and dicing the Vikings when the teams met twice annually. Za’Darius Smith was signed along with Preston Smith during the 2019 offseason, formulating the “Smith Bros.” for a couple of seasons.
During those two seasons in Green Bay (2019 and 2020), Za’Darius Smith ranked third in the NFL for sacks (26.0), tying Aaron Donald. Only T.J. Watt and Shaquil Barrett accrued more sacks in those two seasons.
The acquisition of Smith smooths some anxieties on behalf of Vikings fans, who feared Minnesota might limp into 2022 with a new 3-4 defense deficient of pass rushers. Just one week ago, Danielle Hunter trade talks felt real, leaving only D.J. Wonnum, Patrick Jones II, Kenny Willekes, and Janarius Robinson as the EDGE rushers on the roster if a trade occurred. And a conglomeration of only those men would not indicate success in 2022.
Instead of Wonnum, Jones, Willekes, and Robinson, though, Minnesota is now forecasted to showcase Hunter and Smith, a duo reminiscent of purple cannibalism.
Smith and the Vikings must be a match made in heaven because the purple forefathers — the Purple People Eaters — used this as their motto in the late 1960s and most of the 1970s.
The Vikings afforded Smith a three-year, $42 million contract.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. His YouTube Channel, VikesNow, debuts in March 2022. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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