“We just weren’t in a position to keep him at his salary. Because, look, he played some good snaps for us and he made plays for us when we acquired him, so we would have loved to been able to keep him. We just weren’t able to. ... We’ll just see how it goes.” Smith’s market has been pretty quiet so far despite another big season with nine sacks and 63 pressures, but that does seem to be the way the game goes sometimes with players entering their age-33 season. We’ll probably get more clarity on where Smith will wind up after the draft. Smith would be a nice late-wave pickup in free agency for many teams at this point.

The release of saves the Lions just over $5.7 million against the cap for this upcoming season. Smith, who was acquired in a trade with the Browns around last year’s trade deadline, totaled nine sacks and 35 tackles while splitting time with the two teams, and also posted nine TFLs. He’s totaled nine or more sacks in two of his last three seasons, and his 63 pressures tied for 10th-most amongst EDGE rushers, per PFF. Smith will be 33 at the start of next season. His best days are likely behind him, but he’s still providing enough to help defenses as a situational pass rusher. Given the exploding market for pass rushers, he’ll almost certainly have a new home next season, even if it’s on a one-year deal.

Smith joined the Lions at the deadline but was given Wednesday and Thursday off from practice as he tended to hurricane damage on his property in Florida. He will ultimately be held out, with the team now having to wait until Week 11 for their recent pass rusher to make his team debut.

Smith was given Wednesday and Thursday off to process his trade from the Browns to the Lions and was granted permission to visit his home in Florida, which suffered damage in a recent Hurricane. When asked if he would play this week, a smiling Smith told reporters, “I really don’t know but that’s a Dan [Campbell] question. Hopefully, I can play.” The Lions will be without starting LB Malcolm Rodriguez (ankle) and neither CB Emmanuel Moseley (pectoral) nor S Ifeatu Melifonwu (ankle) will make their return.