Za’Darius Smith Can Stay Put
Ted Schwerzler
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The Minnesota Vikings took a chance on Za’Darius Smith last offseason despite his injuries with the Green Bay Packers. Now it seems he wants to take advantage of their goodwill. The organization is fair to act in its best interest.
After playing just a single game for the Green Bay Packers in 2021, the Vikings took a chance on the edge rusher and handed him a three-year, $42 million deal. In year one, he got out of the gate quickly, racking up sacks and making it look like a worthy risk. By year’s end, Smith had wound up with 10 sacks and looked like a great pairing alongside Danielle Hunter.
Za’Darius Smith Can Stay Put
Now he wants to take advantage of a market that has shifted in his favor.
With the edge rusher group being lackluster in free agency, it stands to reason that Smith would be in line for another payday with greater guaranteed money. Fortunately for the Vikings, he’s still under contract, and regardless of his desire for relief, they owe him nothing. Minnesota took the risk last offseason, and should they decide he’s in their plans, forcing him to holdout is the logical outcome.
It remains to be seen how the Vikings will look on defense with new coordinator Brian Flores in the fold. He has shown a desire to be aggressive in his past stops, though, and a pairing of Smith and Hunter could present a formidable challenge for opposing quarterbacks. Flores has said that the specific scheme will be gameplan dependent, but having a pair of talents that can get around the edge and bring down the quarterback is an enticing reality.
Smith certainly has started the spin that he is on his way out of Minnesota through his latest social media post. The organization can continue to fight back by announcing they have no intentions of releasing him. At the end of the day, Smith’s only leverage is to hold out and not play. That doesn’t seem logical for a guy who has previously dealt with injury and recently missed a full year. Smith is also 30 years old, and continuing to put up numbers on the field remains in his best interest.
It’s not at all unfair for Smith to look for every payday he can get. The NFL is a brutal league with a very short window for players to get theirs. That said, Minnesota has to feel a bit annoyed that a guy they did everything for is already looking to parlay their stance into a better opportunity.
We probably haven’t seen the end of this story.
Ted Schwerzler is a blogger from the Twin Cities that is focused on all things Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings. He’s active on Twitter and writes weekly for Twins Daily. As a former college athlete and avid sports fan, covering our pro teams with a passion has always seemed like such a natural outlet.
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