Za’Darius Smith paid Brodric Martin thousands of dollars to wear No. 99 jersey in Detroit

When defensive end Za’Darius Smith was traded from the Browns to the Lions, one of his first priorities was to secure his preferred jersey number, 99. That cost him some money.

The number was available, but only because Lions defensive tackle Brodric Martin was listed as the Lions’ No. 99 jersey but hasn’t played this season. If he had, the NFL wouldn’t have allowed him to change jersey numbers, and 99 wouldn’t have been available to Smith.

Smith told reporters in Detroit on Friday that he was offered numbers in the 60s, 70s or 80s but, “I was like, no way.”

“I was like, who has No. 99? They told me who he was and we looked his number up and called him real quick,” Smith said of Martin. “Thankful to him, a guy from Alabama, Tuscaloosa, had a chance to talk to him a little while, and I had to pay up a little bit, but all is well. I got No. 99 now.”

Asked what the going rate is for a jersey number among NFL players, Smith declined to specify a dollar amount but indicated it was between $1,000 and $9,000.

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

And Smith has a good jersey number, the same one he wore in Cleveland.