Two defensive players switched teams as their 2024 campaign continued. The Baltimore Ravens traded a 2026 seventh-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams for cornerback Tre’Davious White and a 2027 seventh-round pick. Meanwhile, the Detroit Lions gave up a 2025 fifth-rounder and a 2026 sixth-rounder for pass rusher Za’Darius Smith and a 2026 seventh-rounder.
White signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Rams after the Buffalo Bills released him during the 2024 offseason. The Bills drafted White in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft and retained him for seven seasons. However, he will join the Ravens, a team that ranks last in passing yards allowed (280.9 per game).
White was among the league’s best defensive backs in 2019 and 2020. He earned two All-Pro and two Pro Bowl selections in those two years. The cornerback from LSU also led the league in interceptions with six in 2019. He has 18 interceptions, five fumbles, three sacks, and 323 tackles in 86 career games.
Rams trading CB Tre'Davious White to Ravens. (via @TomPelissero) pic.twitter.com/w06LvgdyFh
— NFL (@NFL) November 5, 2024
Meanwhile, Smith is coming off a season with 5.5 sacks, 27 tackles, 20 quarterback hits, and a forced fumble in 16 games for the Cleveland Browns. In nine games this year, he has five sacks and 23 tackles. The Lions badly need Smith’s services after Aidan Hutchinson suffered a season-ending injury.
In 2020, Smith earned a Second-Team All-Pro selection after tallying 12.5 sacks, 52 tackles, and four forced fumbles for the Green Bay Packers. The year before, he completed a career-high 13.5 sacks in his first season with the Packers. In addition to the Browns and the Packers, Smith also played for the Ravens and the Minnesota Vikings.
-Lance Fernandez