{"id":324896,"date":"2026-08-19T13:18:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T13:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/324896\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T13:18:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T13:18:33","slug":"falcons-signing-zadarius-smith-less-than-one-year-after-he-retired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/324896\/","title":{"rendered":"Falcons signing Za&#8217;Darius Smith less than one year after he retired"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Za\u2019Darius Smith\u2019s career in the NFL has another chapter after all. <\/p>\n<p>Smith, 33, signed a one-year contract with the Falcons, the team announced Tuesday. NFL Network\u2019s Ian Rapoport added that the pass rusher will get $6 million this season.<\/p>\n<p>The veteran defender finds a new home less than one year after it appeared his pro football career was over. Smith signed a one-year deal with the Eagles last September and appeared in five games \u2014 with 1.5 sacks \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/10\/13\/sports\/zadarius-smith-suddenly-retires-at-33-in-eagles-stunner\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">before shockingly announcing his retirement<\/a> in October.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\"   data-modal-image=\"40403141\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2240443901.jpg\" alt=\"Philadelphia Eagles player Jordan Davis #52 engaged with a New York Giants opponent.\" class=\"wp-image-40403141\"\/>Za\u2019Darius Smith rushes the passer during the Eagles\u2019 loss to the Giants on Oct. 9, 2025, at MetLife Stadium. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew this day would come \u2014 but now that it\u2019s here, I\u2019m feeling so many emotions I never expected,\u201d Smith wrote in an Instagram post last fall. \u201cWho would\u2019ve thought that a kid from Greenville, AL, with just one year of high school football experience, would go on to play professional football in the NFL for 11 incredible years!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cleveland.com\/browns\/2026\/08\/zadarius-smith-signs-with-the-falcons-after-the-browns-expected-to-sign-him-on-sunday.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">according to Cleveland.com<\/a>, was expected to sign with the Browns over the weekend but was instead offered a tryout with Atlanta, where he ultimately chose to land.<\/p>\n<p>The Falcons add some pass-rush depth with the Smith move after <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/08\/04\/sports\/falcons-pass-rusher-jalon-walker-likely-out-for-season-in-crushing-blow\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">losing 2025 first-round pick Jalon Walker<\/a> with a torn ACL earlier this month. <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/08\/14\/sports\/falcons-james-pearce-jr-suspended-after-domestic-dispute-with-rickea-jackson\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">James Pearce was also suspended eight games<\/a> by the NFL for violating the league\u2019s personal conduct policy for his alleged role in a domestic incident with his ex-girlfriend, WNBA player Rickea Jackson.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"   data-modal-image=\"40403130\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_Falcons_Smith_Football_79373-85788-0.jpg\" alt=\"Philadelphia Eagles outside linebacker Za'Darius Smith (52) runs off the field after an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Oct. 9, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J.\" class=\"wp-image-40403130\"\/>Za\u2019Darius Smith runs off the field after the Eagles\u2019 road loss to the Giants on Oct. 9, 2025. AP Photo\/Adam Hunger<\/p>\n<p>A three-time Pro Bowler, Smith has racked up at least 8.5 sacks in a season five times, with a career high coming in 2019 with 13.5. <\/p>\n<p>In his last full season in 2024 with the Vikings and Browns, he recorded nine sacks and 35 tackles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Za\u2019Darius Smith\u2019s career in the NFL has another chapter after all. Smith, 33, signed a one-year contract with&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2670,2673,9,11,10,22,28982,65213,2685,319,63749],"class_list":["post-324896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-atlanta-falcons","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-free-agency","tag-nfl-free-agency-2026","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-sports","tag-training-camp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}