Browns’ Za’Darius Smith made a bold statement on why he decided to stay in Cleveland

Cleveland Browns went out and brought back DE Za’Darius Smith in free agency after it being a question mark on whether or not they would be able to.

Despite having multiple options in free agency, Smith decided to sign back on a two-year deal worth $23 million. With OTAs off and running, Smith gave some insight into why he wanted to come back to Cleveland.

“The culture, the chemistry with this team, man, everything," Smith said on what pulled him back to the team. "The brotherhood, man, the team camaraderie. I had a chance to go other places, but I felt like I didn’t want that, man. I felt like we didn’t get to where we wanted to last year, man. And we got something that we need to finish here. Hopefully, we can get that done this year."

Smith had 5.5 sacks last season in 16 games played and despite that number being down, it was a positive season for the veteran. Despite not having a high sack number, Smith was a versatile piece for the Browns that provided consistent pressure and he dug in when it came to the run game.

"I see something in this team that a lot of people just don’t see man, for being in the locker room, and I was talking about the team camaraderie," Smith stated. "If we keep that close and keep the togetherness man, we can go far this year hopefully.”

Smith gave insight to the teams that were interested in him and he named a team from each conference.

“I had other options to go to Miami (Dolphins), Washington (Commanders). I could have went anywhere, but I wanted to come back here."

Smith will once again be a part of a front that is very important for Cleveland and he’s going to be relied on lined up opposite of the Defensive Player of the Year. Most importantly for Smith, he is somewhere that he openly wants to be.