When the Detroit Lions obtained defensive end Za’Darius Smith in an NFL trade on Tuesday, the Greenville High School alumnus wanted to keep the number that he wore with the Cleveland Browns.

A transaction with another Alabama prep product made that happen.

“They was like, ‘Man, you got three options,’” Smith said about picking a jersey number in Detroit. “You can get any number in the 70s, any numbers in the 80s, and I think it was 60s. And I was like, ‘No way.’ I was like, ‘Who have No. 99?’ And they told me who it was, and we looked his number up and called him real quick. Thankful to him, a guy from Alabama, man – Tuscaloosa — had a chance to talk to him for a little while, and I had to pay up a little bit, but all is well. I got No. 99 now.”

Defensive tackle Brodric Martin was wearing No. 99 on the Lions. The former Northridge High School standout is now No. 96 after a financial transaction with Smith.

“The going rate?” Smith said on Friday. “There’s three zeros on the end of it. I’m not going to tell you the exact price, but, for sure, he’s going to have some good money. Put some gas in his car, for sure.”

Martin was able to change numbers during the season because he has not played in the 2024 campaign. Had Martin been on the field, NFL rules would have prohibited him from changing numbers without changing teams (although exceptions have been made).

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A defensive end and tight end at Northridge in Tuscaloosa who also played basketball and threw the shot for the Jaguars’ track team, Martin started his college football career in 2017 with a redshirt season at North Alabama. Over the next three seasons at UNA, Martin started every game before transferring to Western Kentucky for two seasons.

A third-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft, Martin hasn’t played this season because he sustained a knee injury in the Lions’ preseason finale. Martin remains on injured reserve, but he returned to practice on Oct. 30, opening a 21-day period for Detroit to restore him to the active roster or leave him on IR for the rest of the season.

“It’s hard to say,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said on Nov. 1 about the plans for Martin in 2024. “I mean, it was good to see him out there. He looks like he’s fresh. He certainly has fresh legs, so, really, that’s the best I can give you. I mean, it’s good to get him out there. It’s good to continue the development of him, to be able to go against our one O-line. He’s out there going against those guys, and then it’s just a matter of: Man, do we feel like after this three weeks he can help us? Do we feel like he can really help us? Is he healthy enough to help? How is he relative to the rest of the guys on the roster, even practice squad? That’s what it’ll be.”

A basketball player at Greenville High School, Smith played football for the Tigers during his senior year. That led him to East Mississippi Community College, and he completed his college career with two seasons at Kentucky before entering the NFL as a fourth-round selection in the 2015 draft.

Detroit acquired Smith after the Lions’ top pass-rusher, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, suffered a broken leg in a 47-9 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 13. Detroit recorded five sacks in the three games since Hutchinson went down, and the Lions had none in Sunday’s 24-14 victory over the Green Bay Packers.

Smith has five sacks for the Browns this season and 65 in his career.

Detroit sent a fifth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and a sixth-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft in exchange for Smith and a seventh-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

The trade moved Smith from the 2-7 Browns to the 7-1 Lions.

“Thank them, man, for just having me for two years – well, a year and a half – and trading me here to basically go do something great,” Smith said of the trade.

Detroit plays the Houston Texans at 7:20 p.m. CST Sunday at NRG Stadium in Houston. NBC will televise the game.

On Friday, Smith said he didn’t know if the Lions would let him play after one day of practice.

“Hopefully, can get out there this Sunday,” Smith said.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.