In the end, the Detroit Lions won't be bringing back Za'Darius Smith.
Instead, he's joining a different one of the best teams in the NFC.
On Friday, Smith signed a one-year contract with the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
The Eagles have already played this season, having won on Thursday night over the Dallas Cowboys.
Smith's first chance to debut will come in Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes.
MORE: Browns' trade for Shedeur Sanders gives fans a reason to keep believing
Smith was a midseason pickup by the Lions last season, and he had four sacks in eight games in Detroit.
Earlier this month, Lions GM Brad Holmes had this to say about Smith:
“Za’Darius did a lot of good things last year for us and we said we’re going to keep in contact with his agent, but everything’s not just one-sided. Za’Darius has expectations, the team has expectations, so sometimes it takes a while for those things to get on the same page. Especially a guy that’s been in the league as long as he has, I’m not saying that he doesn’t want to be in training camp, but if he misses some time, there’s obviously still interest there and we’ve been keeping in touch.”
MORE: The latest on Shilo Sanders' chances to stick in the NFL
There were stronger links early in the offseason, but by the end, it seemed the Lions and Smith weren't coming to any sort of agreement.
At this point, it was just a matter of waiting to see where Smith would end up.
It's gotta be exciting for him to join one of the NFL's best teams.
Smith has 69 career sacks, and he'll try to add to that total in the City of Brotherly Love.
MORE NFL NEWS:
- Jalen Hurts' career-low stat ruined night for A.J. Brown, Devonta Smith
- Why Christian McCaffrey's injury update is so concerning
- Myles Garrett is Joe Burrow's nightmare, and the stats prove it
- Josh Allen is on the verge of a major NFL record
- Why Amari Cooper retired 9 days after signing with the Raiders
- Russell Wilson joins Eli Manning with an exclusive piece of NFL history