BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Friday night quickly turned into Christmas morning for a few Browns rookie defenders with the news the team was acquiring Za’Darius Smith from the Minnesota Vikings.
“I was just scrolling on Twitter and I saw that [and thought], ‘OK, nice,’” cornerback and fifth-round pick Cameron Mitchell said.
“It’s going to help everybody. All three levels of our defense.”
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The news broke after the rookies had wrapped up their first day of minicamp at the team’s facility in Berea.
“I was in my hotel room, actually, watching film and going over the playbook,” fourth round pick Isaiah McGuire said. “Seeing that and sending it to my family, us talking about how what of a great opportunity it is for me as a young player, adding that presence to the room and just overall and continuing to improve our pass rush.”
The trade bumps McGuire, a 6-4 268-pound defensive end out of Missouri, a little further down the depth chart for 2023 while providing him the chance to get quite the education from Smith and four-time Pro Bowler Myles Garrett.
“For me, it was definitely exciting,” McGuire said. “Me being a rookie, coming in, having the opportunity to learn from a great vet such as Za’Darius, as well as the other people in the room, it's truly honor and a blessing. I'm excited to learn from those people, pick their brains and just improve overall.”
The talent Smith brings to the Browns is one thing but the depth the trade adds could prove to be invaluable this fall.
“We can just keep sending them. Everyone can stay fresh,” McGuire said. “I heard a lot about Myles having to take a lot of reps last year and even my senior year at Mizzou where we had a lot more depth on the defensive line. I understand that fresh legs for a player can really help him impact the game overall.”
Smith has tallied double digit sacks season in three of the last four years. In 2021 Smith played just one game due to a bulging disc in his back.
The Browns literally gave up nothing – a pair of fifth round picks in 2024 and 2025 while adding sixth and seventh round picks in the 2025 Draft – for the three-time Pro Bowl defensive end, who will be paired opposite of Garrett.
Smith was a fourth-round pick – No. 122 overall – of the Baltimore Ravens in 2014 which gives Cleveland’s mid-round picks this year hope they’ll have an opportunity to make something of their NFL careers.
“Gets me excited, real excited,” third round pick Siaki Ika said. “Kind of what I want for myself in the future. So seeing someone like that and also being able to learn from someone like that, I’m real excited.”
The Schwartz is strong – New defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is already making an impression on the rookie class.
“I’ve only been around him for two days, but I could tell he’s serious, but he’s probably got a joke side to him behind closed doors,” Mitchell said. “But he seems like a real stern coach about his business. He’ll get on you when he needs to.”
Schwartz wants his defense to get after opponents even stronger than he might get after players.
“Real fast, explosive and vertical,” Ika said. “A little bit different than what I’ve been used to. I’ve played a lot of blocks throughout college. It’s all I pretty much know. So being able to get here and be in a system where it’s just everything goes forward, vertical, just disrupt. Real excited about it.”
In the new scheme Schwartz is implementing, the onus falls on defensive linemen to to apply pressure up front without having to blitz.
“For us it's having an attack mindset, but also having fun,” McGuire said. “Football’s supposed to be fun as well as violent. You got to have fun, football's hard enough. And then everyone is serious on details and whatnot. Like I said, just continuing to improve on those things.”
Weight-ing game – The Browns aren’t sure just what weight they’d like Ika, who comes in at 335 pounds, to be at this season.
“We’re kind of playing with it right now,” Ika said. “They kind of want to see where, like how heavy I can be without losing any mobility or anything. So we're kind of playing around with it right now, seeing where they want me to be at.”
The former Baylor Bear understands he might need to drop a few pounds to become the explosive defensive tackle Schwartz likes to plug in the middle of his defensive front.
“Probably my ability to get off the ball, get off the ball and get vertical quickly,” Ika said when asked about the most important part of his game he is focused on refining. “It's not something I've been familiar with before, so now I think it's real important that I shed a little bit more weight, get a little bit faster so I can move side to side, run sideline to sideline.”
Quote of the day – “When we first got here, they was like first day of school. Greg [Newsome] was calling me, talking about are you ready for your first day of school? Yeah, it feels a lot like back being a freshman.” Mitchell on the similarities to rookie minicamp and freshman orientation.
Quote of camp – “Oh, that's a big man. I mean, I thought I was big. That’s ginormous.” Ika on fellow rookie offensive tackle Dawand Jones’ 6-foot-8, 374-pound frame.