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

When defensive end Za'Darius Smith traded from the Browns to the Lions, one of his first priorities was securing 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 wearing the Lions' jersey number 99 but has not played this season. If he had, the NFL would not have allowed him to change the jersey number and 99 would not have been available to Smith.

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

“I asked myself: Who has number 99? They told me who he was and we looked up his number and called him real quick,” Smith said of Martin. “Thanks to him, a man from Alabama, Tuscaloosa, had the opportunity to talk to him for a while and I had to pay a little, but everything is fine. I have No. 99 now.”

When asked what the going price for an NFL player's jersey number is, Smith declined to provide a dollar amount but said it ranges from $1,000 to $9,000.

“The current course? There are three zeros at the end,” Smith said. “I won’t tell you the exact price, but he’ll definitely be good money.”

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