Edge rusher Za’Darius Smith is back in the NFC North, acquired by the conference-leading Detroit Lions from the Cleveland Browns on Tuesday for a fifth-round selection in the 2025 NFL Draft and a sixth-round pick in 2026.
Pushing for a pass rusher since losing Aidan Hutchinson to a broken leg, the Lions landed Smith and also receive a seventh-round pick in 2026.
A three-time Pro Bowl selection, Smith has five sacks this season playing opposite Myles Garrett in Cleveland.
He has 65 career sacks, 321 tackles and 10 forced fumbles in 132 career games (89 starts) with the Baltimore Ravens, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and Browns.
–Bengals bolster RB room, trade for Bears’ Khalil Herbert
Herbert provides depth in the Bengals’ backfield with Zack Moss dealing with a neck injury and deemed out indefinitely by head coach Zac Taylor on Monday.
Herbert had eight carries for 16 yards and a touchdown with the Bears this season. He has rushed for 1,791 yards and nine touchdowns to go along with 45 catches for 291 yards and two scores in 48 career games (12 starts) with the Bears.
–Cowboys deal fourth-round pick for Panthers WR Jonathan Mingo
Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jonathan Mingo was traded to the Dallas Cowboys for a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Adding Mingo, 23, gives backup quarterback Cooper Rush another big, talented target as he steps in for injured starter Dak Prescott. As part of the announced trade, Dallas also nets a seventh-round pick in 2025.
Mingo started 14 games as a rookie last season. The emergence of rookie first-round pick Xavier Legette and undrafted free agent Jalen Coker pushed Mingo down the depth chart in 2024.
Rebuilding Carolina traded wide receiver Diontae Johnson and a 2025 sixth-rounder to the Ravens last week in exchange for a fifth-round pick in 2025.
Drafted 39th overall by the Panthers in the 2023 NFL Draft, Mingo caught 43 passes as a rookie and has 12 receptions this season. During the 2023 draft, Mingo was a receiver the Cowboys “really liked,” according to owner Jerry Jones. Dallas used its second-round pick, 19 spots after Mingo went off the board, to select Michigan tight end Luke Schoonmaker.
–Trades completed prior to Tuesday
Early action from the Kansas City Chiefs to bolster their injury-dinged offense and pass rush brought in Tennessee Titans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins in exchange for a conditional fifth-round pick, and edge Josh Uche from the New England Patriots for a sixth-round pick 2026.
Hopkins caught two touchdown passes from Patrick Mahomes in Monday’s 30-24 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, helping the Chiefs improve to 8-0.
