Falcons Sign Veteran Pass Rusher Za'Darius Smith After Two Key Losses

ATLANTA —

The Atlanta Falcons signed veteran pass rusher Za'Darius Smith to a one-year contract on Tuesday, the team announced, moving to patch a defensive front that lost its two best edge rushers within the span of two weeks.

Smith, 33, will earn $6 million on the deal, with incentives that could push the total to $8 million, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and CBS Sports. He had retired in October 2025 after playing five games with the Philadelphia Eagles last season, but he visited the Cleveland Browns before ultimately signing with Atlanta, CBS Sports reported. Smith previously played for the Browns in 2023 and 2024 under Kevin Stefanski, who is now Atlanta's head coach.

Over an 11-year career, Smith has piled up 70.5 sacks, three Pro Bowl selections and a second-team All-Pro nod in 2020 with the Green Bay Packers, where his career high of 13.5 sacks came in 2019, according to ESPN. He managed just 1.5 sacks in five games last season but had nine combined between the Browns and Detroit Lions in 2024.

Filling a Sudden Gap

Atlanta's pass rush thinned out fast. First-round edge rusher Jalon Walker tore his ACL in a non-padded practice on August 4 and will miss the entire 2026 season, CBS Sports reported. Then, on August 15, the NFL suspended fellow first-round pick James Pearce Jr. for the first eight games of the season for violating the league's personal conduct policy, ESPN reported. The suspension followed a domestic dispute case in which Pearce faced felony charges that were set to be dismissed if he completed a pre-trial program and stayed out of trouble for six months, according to CBS Sports.

The losses gutted a group that had powered a breakout year. The Falcons recorded a franchise-record 57 sacks last season, led in part by Pearce's 10.5 and Walker's 5.5, ESPN reported. Interior lineman Brandon Dorlus, who had 8.5 sacks last season, has spent this summer working more at edge, according to ESPN.

A Thin Cap Sheet

Smith now joins a group of one-year edge rusher signings from the offseason, including Samson Ebukam, Azeez Ojulari and Cameron Thomas, along with Bralen Trice, who has yet to appear in a regular-season game after tearing his ACL in each of his first two seasons, ESPN reported.

The signing also eats into Atlanta's spending room. The Falcons had roughly $35.64 million in salary cap space before adding Smith and are now down to about $29.64 million, according to figures from Over the Cap cited by Yahoo Sports. Yahoo Sports reported the team still has enough room to consider another move before the season starts, with depth also needed at defensive tackle and wide receiver.