By signing a recently released veteran, the Lions could break the hearts of free agents.

This offseason, the Detroit Lions have rejected several opportunities to add an edge rusher to complement Aidan Hutchinson. They decided not to pursue a trade for irate San Francisco 49ers edge rusher Bryce Huff at the end of May. Detroit hadn’t signed or selected a free agent rusher before that. Because of this, a lot of Lions supporters think the squad will probably get back together with Za’Darius Smith before the season starts. Nevertheless, an unexpected cut occurred on Thursday, creating a new opportunity for Detroit.

Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot reports that veteran edge rusher Ogbo Okoronkwo was cut by the Cleveland Browns. Okoronkwo might be the better choice to bring in for this season even though he hasn’t been as productive as Smith throughout his career. The Browns announced the signing of kicker Andre Szmyt and the dismissal of edge rusher Ogbo Okoronkwo.

It’s not the worst notion, even though many Lions supporters might laugh at the thought of adding someone who hasn’t been as productive as Smith. Smith is currently 32 years old, and Okoronkwo is 30. Even while two years isn’t usually a big age difference, in football, it is when a player turns thirty.

In this situation, a few fewer seasons can actually be advantageous because skills like strength and speed tend to degrade with age. Okoronkwo has accumulated 132 tackles, 32 TFLs, 17 sacks, four pass deflections, and four forced fumbles across his six NFL seasons. He had his greatest season with the Houston Texans in 2022. According to PFF, the 30-year-old recorded 44 tackles, 2 pass deflections, 1 forced fumble, 5 sacks, 9 tackles for loss, 6 quarterback hits, 25 quarterback hurries, and 36 quarterback pressures that season.

In the 2023 summer, Cleveland offered him a three-year, $19 million contract because of the season. Okoronkwo was a rotational pass rusher for the Browns for two seasons, recording 54 tackles, 17 TFLs, 7.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and one pass deflection.

According to PFF, he also had seven quarterback hits, forty-two quarterback hurries, and fifty-seven quarterback pressures. Taking everything into account, those are respectable numbers for a rotational player. Getting a little younger off their bench was all Cleveland wanted. Given his age and level of output as a rotational player, Detroit should give acquiring Okoronkwo considerable consideration, even though Smith has always been the superior choice. This signing would at least allay Lions supporters’ concerns about who will be starting alongside Aidan Hutchinson, even though it isn’t the major move they were hoping for.