Za’darius Smith: College| Salary| Return| Injury| Stats

Smith has been on injured reserve since playing limited snaps in the season opener, and he subsequently underwent back surgery in early. Today we will discuss about Za’darius Smith: College| Salary| Return| Injury| Stats

Za’darius Smith: College| Salary| Return| Injury| Stats

Za’Darius Smith (born September 8, 1992) is an American football outside linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football in Kentucky, and was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft.

College

Smith attended Greenville High School in Greenville, Alabama. Smith played basketball in high school and did not begin playing football until his senior year.

college career edit
Smith played college football for two years at East Mississippi Community College before transferring to the University of Kentucky. In his two years at East Mississippi, he recorded 66 tackles and 11 sacks. In his first year at Kentucky, Smith started all 12 games and recorded 59 tackles and six sacks, finishing seventh in the SEC.  As a senior in 2014, Smith had 60 tackles and 4.5 sacks

Salary

The Green Bay Packers are continuing their work under the NFL’s salary cap ahead of the start of the new league year, loosening a pair of players who have contributed significantly over the past few seasons.

The Packers on Monday confirmed the release of pass rusher Za’Darius Smith and offensive lineman Billy Turner, while also announcing that they have agreed a new contract for pass rusher Preston Smith.

Smith, Smith and Turner all signed with the Packers in 2019, signaling a change in the Packers’ front office strategy after years of near-free agency. While the trio remained largely productive over the past three seasons, the Packers needed to step in as they fell far short of the league’s salary cap.

Releasing Turner and Zadarius Smith would save the team approximately $19.1 million in cap space, while working Preston Smith’s contract would also reduce their cap hit for the next season, giving the team additional in salary cap savings. Will get $8 million.

Return

Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Zadarius Smith is back on the field for Matt LaFleur’s team for the first time since September.

On Wednesday, Smith returned to practice – meaning the team named him for return from injured reserve and opened his 21-day window to practice with the team.

LaFleur confirmed that Smith will be back before practice on Wednesday. He needs all the time to get back in football shape and gain momentum with the defense as a whole. Smith missed most of training camp and has only played in one game with new defensive coordinator Joe Barry.

Injury

David Bakhtiari and center Josh Myers faced left-handed first. Now, Zadarius Smith could be the next major player to return to the Green Bay Packers in time for the playoffs.

The second-team All-Pro out linebacker from a year ago will practice during the top-seeded Packers’ first-round byes this week, and if all goes well, he could play for the first time since the season opener. Smith played only 18 snaps in the regular season – in Week 1 against the New Orleans Saints – and then had back surgery for a problem that plagued him during training camp.

“I want to beat expectations,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said on Monday. “Here’s a guy who hasn’t really practiced since the New Orleans game. We’ll bring him back there and see what he looks like, see what kind of shape he’s in. If he goes ahead and hits all the boxes Checks if he’ll be back on the field.”

Stats

On January 17, 2015, Smith appeared in the 2015 East–West Shrine game and recorded two combined tackles and a sack, helping East beat West 19–3. [8] Smith was recognized as the Most Valuable Defensive Player in the East–West Shrine Game. [9] Smith later received an LB invitation to the 2015 Senior Bowl. On January 24, 2015, Smith appeared in Reese’s Senior Bowl and helped the North team defeat the South 34–13. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Smith was judged to be a third or fourth round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the 12th best defensive end prospect by DraftScout.com