Aidan Hutchinson will get paid handsomely pretty soon, but timing will be of the essence regarding his contract extension.
The 2024 season will be marked as “what might have been” for Detroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. When he suffered a broken left fibula and tibia in Week 6 against the Dallas Cowboys, he had 7.5 sacks, seven tackles for loss and 45 quarterback pressures. Despite playing less than five full games, those 45 pressures were still a top-40 total in the league among edge rushers (according to Pro Football Focus).
On-pace is always dangerous territory to dive into, but Hutchinson was on pace for 25.5 sacks this season at the time of his injury. That would have been three sacks clear of the current NFL single-season sack record, shared by T.J. Watt (2021) and Michael Strahan (2001).
Hutchinson possibly could have played in the Super Bowl on Sunday night had the Lions gotten there but as he told Pat McAfee this week in New Orleans, “the world will never know.” In any case, he also said he is almost done with his rehab and there are no obvious concerns about him being fully healthy heading toward next season.
As Mike Payton of AtoZ Sports laid out nicely, Hutchinson’s injury is an automatic factor in the conversation about his contract extension. The Lions can pick up his fifth-year option, projected to be worth $22.61 million for 2026, and go from there regarding a longer and more lucrative deal. Using an extension projection that would leave him the fifth-highest paid edge rusher by annual average, Payton made the case Hutchinson should be willing to postpone signing an extension.
Now there may be more fuel to that fire.
Aidan Hutchinson could really benefit by waiting to sign contract extension
Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network took a look at the future of some notable pass rushers heading into the offseason. Among those who could be available in a trade (Myles Garrett, Maxx Crosby, Trey Hendrickson), the Lions land somewhere in that conversation if they can make it work financially alongside the deal Hutchinson is lined up to get.
The current top of the edge rusher market is Nick Bosa at $34 million per year, followed by Josh Hines-Allen ($28.25 million) and Brian Burns ($28.2 million), who both signed their deals last offseason. Watt ($28 million) and Garrett ($25 million) round out the top-five.
Watt is entering a contract year, which adds to the equation as he could reset the top of the edge rusher market before others (Micah Parsons, Crosby, Garrett, Hendrickson, etc.) do.
Pelissero and Rapoport had the expected added note about Hutchinson.
“Whoever resets the market, and wherever they do it, Lions star Aidan Hutchinson could be the next to get paid big. Hutchinson had 7.5 sacks in five games before suffering a season-ending leg injury in October and is now extension-eligible as he enters the fourth year of his rookie contract.”
The Lions have not been afraid to pony up and pay their own, and Hutchinson is next in line for a contract at or near the top of the market for his position. But he has two years of contractual control left, and by then the other edge rushers Rapoport and Pelissero mentioned will likely have their new contracts. The top of the market will be higher a year from now, perhaps after Hutchinson has had a huge season in a full return to health.
Hutchinson definitely could be the next edge rusher to get paid big, and any other idea will be rendered moot. But the difference between $35 million per year, which would currently reset the top of the edge rusher market, and perhaps $40 million per year when all the looming contract dust has settled (to reset the market then), looks like enough to remove a good bit of urgency from his end about a contract extension.
