Zadarius Smith’s release is first domino to fall for Chiefs’ rumored move

If the swirling rumors are true that the Kansas City Chiefs are a likely future home for the services of veteran pass rusher Zadarius Smith, then fans should take note that the first official domino has fallen. The Green Bay Packers have officially decided to part ways with him, making him a free agent able to sign immediately with any new team.

Rumors have been circling around the league for weeks now connecting the Chiefs and Smith, which means there’s either a serious smokescreen or a clear leak for news, but the need is clearly there for the Chiefs and Smith would be a great fit.

For Smith, the ability to leap from one contender to another would be a welcome move and it wouldn’t hurt to shift between two of the league’s best quarterbacks either. What’s going to be important here is for the Chiefs to be able to beat out competitors and to find the right financial terms given their need to create further space.

Rumors have been connecting Zadarius Smith to the Kansas City Chiefs for weeks and now he’s been officially released.

The Chiefs are expected to move on from Frank Clark which should both create the vacuum/need for a new cornerstone pass rusher as well as free up the cap space in order to make it happen. However, the Chiefs haven’t yet made such a move, nor have they made other long-rumored moves like extending Tyreek Hill or restructuring Patrick Mahomes’ contract.

Smith is going to be 30 years old in September and he’s coming off of a season lost to injury, save for a single game played in the regular season. He did come back to play in the postseason for the Packers and he’s been a reliable player before that, so the Chiefs have reason to believe he could bounce back well. That said, any deal should reflect the risk involved. Smith had 26 total sacks in 2019-2020 for the Packers.