The Detroit Lions know what they have in edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson and aren’t going to let him sniff free agency.
Their only questions are how much to pay the fourth-year defensive end and when, as he is now eligible to ink a contract extension.
“Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson looks destined for a new deal. Both sides have had exploratory discussions about an extension,” Jeremy Fowler of ESPN wrote Wednesday, October 8. “Top pass rushers now make quarterback money, punctuated by Micah Parsons‘ four-year, $186 million deal with Green Bay.”
Fowler predicted that Hutchinson will earn a massive contract somewhere in the range of Parsons’ historic deal, which represents the most money any non-QB has ever received.
“While I’m not sure Hutchinson tops that number, he’ll be among the highest paid at his position whenever this deal gets done,” Fowler continued. “He looked destined for a Defensive Player of the Year award last season before suffering a leg injury in mid-October, and he has picked up where he left off with five sacks and three forced fumbles through five games. Detroit has shown an eagerness to extend its marquee players, and there’s none bigger than Hutchinson.”
Dan Campbell Denies Lions Complained to NFL About How Teams Played Aidan Hutchinson Early in Season
GettyDetroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.
Hutchinson’s leg injury occurred in Week 5 of last year and kept him off the field until Week 1 of this season.
Detroit began the campaign with a road game against the Green Bay Packers, which it lost ahead of a blowout win in the home opener against the Chicago Bears. Adam Schefter of ESPN reported in Week 3 that the Lions observed players hitting Hutchinson in unsafe ways.
“Clearly people have noticed some of these plays, and the Lions want the league office to notice as well,” Schefter said, asserting that Detroit asked the NFL to look into the matter.
Head coach Dan Campbell responded to a question about that report on Wednesday and denied its veracity entirely.
“That’s a bogus report,” Campbell said. “I don’t know where that came from. Nobody from here ever did that. That’s bull.”
Aidan Hutchinson Still Only Real Pass-Rush Threat on Lions’ Defense
GettyDetroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.
Hutchinson started the year slowly at Lambeau Field, but has ramped up his play in the four games since.
He has amassed 12 QB hits and five tackles for loss to go along with the aforementioned five sacks and three forced fumbles. The Lions are 4-1, with four straight victories after losing soundly to the Packers in Week 1.
Detroit faced legitimate preseason questions about whether its defense could generate a consistent pass rush after letting Za’Darius Smith walk in free agency. Those questions were founded, as the Lions have just eight sacks as a team through five games, tying them for 23rd in the NFL in that category.
But the defense has been good enough behind a juggernaut offense that has produced an average of more than 40 points per game over the last month. That said, the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on the schedule the next two weeks before Detroit hits its bye, and the Lions will take on those perennial playoff teams down their top two starting cornerbacks in D.J. Reed and Terrion Arnold.
Those absences will ratchet up the pressure on Hutchinson to disrupt opposing pockets, as the edge rush is the best way to negate a weak secondary, and he represents by far the biggest threat on the defense in that regard.
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