Notes: How Lions Clearing Hutchinson Impacts Future Contract

The Detroit Lions have yet to iron out a new contract for defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.

General manager Brad Holmes has set a precedent for taking care of his valued players earlier in the process since taking over the job. While Hutchinson has two more years of team control remaining, he is extension eligible this offseason as a result of being drafted in the 2022 draft class.

While he does not have a new deal yet, ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio believes that the injury and residual effects from it could be the last major hang-up. If Hutchinson demonstrates his health after being cleared to return, it could show the Lions all they need to see.

"The Lions have a recent habit of, during draft week after a key player's third season, giving that player his massive, market-level second contract," Florio said. "Last year, they did it with Penei Sewell and Amon-Ra St. Brown. This year, they did it with Kerby Joseph, but not with Aidan Hutchinson. We have discussed the push and pull, the injury risk. Is it his fault that he had the injury? Do you hold it against him and not give him a market-level contract. That is a pressure point as 2025 approaches."

Fellow NFL analyst Michael Holley added that Holmes' precedent seems to indicate that the Lions will soon get the deal done with Hutchinson. While the injury presents concern in both the short- and long-term future, he believes that Hutchinson will ultimately receive a contract that will be at or near the top of the market.

"Based on how Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell have done business in Detroit, common sense tells me that he's gonna have a contract," Holley said. "He's gonna have a market-level contract, and it's gonna happen soon. It's gonna be risky, because of what you just outlined."