The Baltimore Ravens‘ defensive exodus continued Tuesday with linebacker Za’Darius Smith agreeing to a deal with the Green Bay Packers.
Smith will be joined in Green Bay by former Chicago Bears safety Adrian Amos, who has agreed to a deal, sources confirmed to ESPN.
The NFL Network was first to report the Amos deal, while Smith told ESPN’s Josina Anderson that he is headed to the Packers.
Smith is just the latest blow to the Ravens’ defense. C.J. Mosley is expected to sign with the Jets, Terrell Suggs is heading to the Cardinals and Eric Weddle is heading to the Rams after being cut.
Smith, 26, was the sacks leader for the NFL’s No. 1 defense with a career-best 8.5 last season. His 60 quarterback pressures ranked No. 17 in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus.
A part-time starter, Smith follows the same path as Paul Kruger and Pernell McPhee, both of whom posted big sack numbers in their contract years for the Ravens and left for a big contract elsewhere.
A fourth-round pick in 2015, Smith recorded 10 sacks in his first three seasons before breaking out in 2018.
Smith underwent sports hernia surgery following the season, but he is expected to be ready for offseason workouts in the spring.
The intriguing part about Smith is his upside and efficiency. He hit the quarterback on 25 of his 485 pass-rush snaps (5.1 percent of the time), which is more than Chiefs pass-rusher Dee Ford (4.7 percent).
Smith produced a career-high three sacks in last season’s 21-0 shutout win at Tennessee, where the Ravens had a team-record 11. But Smith had only three sacks in his final 11 games, including a playoff loss to the Chargers.
Amos, 25, has started 56 of the 60 games he has played in for the Bears since he was selected in the fifth round (142nd overall) of the 2015 draft.
He started all 16 games at safety for the Bears’ No. 3-ranked defense last season, finishing with two interceptions, nine passes defensed, a sack and 73 tackles.
He also had an interception in the Bears’ 16-15 playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, picking off a Nick Foles pass intended for Nelson Agholor in the end zone in the second quarter of that game.
Pro Football Focus ranked Amos as the eighth-best safety in the NFL last season, giving him an overall grade of 82.7.
The Packers needed safety help: Two years ago, the Packers had a pair of veteran starting safeties but last offseason they let Morgan Burnett leave in free agency and during last season they traded Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to the Redskins for a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft. After the Clinton-Dix trade, the moved veteran cornerback Tramon Williams to safety to finish out the year. Another part-time starter, Kentrell Brice, will become a restricted free agent this week.
ESPN’s Jamison Hensley contributed to this report.