Ever since Jalon Walker went down for the season, the Atlanta Falcons have been desperate to add help off the edge. And then when it was announced that James Pearce Jr. would be suspended for the first eight games of 2026, the need to turn to the free agent market became impossible to ignore.
And the Falcons just found the edge rusher they're going to sign. According to Jordan Schultz, Atlanta is pulling ZaDarius Smith out of retirement to sign him to a one-year, $6 million deal worth up to $8 million in incentives, which is interesting given he spent a season and a half playing for Kevin Stefanski playing for the Cleveland Browns.
Sources: The #Falcons are signing 3x Pro Bowl OLB Za’Darius Smith to a 1-year deal.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) August 18, 2026
Smith was in deep talks with the #Browns, but Atlanta made a strong push to land the former All-Pro in a deal done by @ErikBurkhardt of @RocNationSports. pic.twitter.com/GfJVODZD5E
And speaking of the Browns, that's the team the Falcons fended off to sign Smith. He visited Cleveland and was expected to sign there when Stefanski saw the chance to swoop in. He worked out with the team yesterday, and impressed him enough to change his mind at the eleventh hour.
The Atlanta Falcons are signing three-time Pro Bowler ZaDarius Smith
In October of 2025, the 33-year-old announced his retirement, but evidently weekends consisting of golf and watching the games from his couch did not satisfy him. Smith was itching to come back, and now he's going to help a Falcons' pass-rush that badly needs an established vet like him to step up.
Smith surpassed 10 sacks in 2019, 2020, and 2022, and logged 8.5 in 2018 with Baltimore. Even as he ages, he's proven he can still get to the QB--and likely far better than anyone the Dirty Birds currently have off the edge. Since they had over $30 million in cap space, this was money well spent.
Smith has recorded 70.5 sacks in his career, which is a major boost to the Dirty Birds' existing core of Cameron Thomas, Bralen Trice, Azeez Ojulari, Samson Ebukam, and Cameron Sample. And considering he's recorded 10.5 sacks across his last two seasons (including nine in 2024), it's safe to say he's a quality pass-rusher.
Naturally, the Kentucky product isn't going to help this unit replicate their 2025 production, but he'll at least offer stability in the short-term. He's one of the best polished active pass-rushers in the game right now and will give Jeff Ulbrich and Nate Ollie another quality weapon in the DL room's arsenal. And he's definitely better than someone like Leonard Floyd or Denico Autry.
The Atlanta Falcons badly needed to address their edge woes, and while Za'Darius Smith may not be as talented as someone like Von Miller, he was much more attainable--and is still going to be a great get for this defense.
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