ALLEN PARK — Heading into the offseason, the Detroit Lions have three edge rushers under contract.

They have Aidan Hutchinson, Tyler Lacy and Ahmed Hassanein on a reserves/futures deal. And that’s it.

Hutchinson is a pass-rushing piece that every other team in the league would do anything to have. He made the Pro Bowl and was a second-team All-Pro after leading the NFL with 100 pressures and hitting a career-high 14.5 sacks this past season.

But Lacy is a third-year pro who played 10 games after the Lions claimed him via waivers after rosters were set coming out of training camp. And Hassanein was a sixth-round pick who didn’t appear in a game, ending the season on the practice squad after getting waived with an injury settlement to start his career.

Brad Holmes said the Lions will take the “same approach” addressing the edge rusher position that they did last year. The Lions general manager said they tried to make some things happen and didn’t ignore the position, but “it just didn’t come together like how we would have liked it to be from a draft standpoint.”

After an obsessive offseason of questions and speculation about the team’s dire need at the position, little came together to serve as an answer. They re-signed Marcus Davenport and Levi Onwuzurike, and banked on Josh Paschal returning at some point, along with drafting Hassnein.

Out of those four players, Davenport was the only one actually to play a snap this season. The veteran pass rusher again missed a big chunk of time, finishing the year with one sack and seven pressures while playing eight games and nearly 300 defensive snaps.

Onwuzurike, who plays a ton of big defensive end when healthy, was ruled out for the season due to an ACL injury. Paschal couldn’t make it back despite trying at the end of the season due to a back injury. And Hassanein was never really an option as a raw rookie.

“But you know (Al-Quadin) Muhammad played really well,” Holmes said at his year-end press conference. “I’m not sure many other teams had an 11-sack and a 14.5-sack guy. I thought the rush was good, but I understand he’s a free agent. Davenport is a free agent, so we’re definitely going to have to look and replenish opposite of Hutch for sure.”

Muhammad had an 11-sack campaign, but as Holmes noted, he needs a new deal. The 31-year-old has a great chance to cash in after a breakout season, and his price range could reach a point that’s too much for the Lions to handle. Hutchinson had 100 pressures. Muhammad had 53. But no other defender had more than 25 pressures, meaning the issues harped about last offseason remain heading into this one.

Davenport’s time feels like it’s hit the end of the road after two injury-riddled campaigns and lackluster production when he was on the field. Onwuzurike got a deal last year, but he’s missed two full seasons in five years. Paschal, another second-round pick by this regime, has struggled to stay available and hasn’t turned into the fit the Lions hoped. He brings inside-outside versatility, but doesn’t bring much to rush the passer and doesn’t offer the pocket-crushing abilities they prefer on the other side of Hutchinson.

As former picks of this regime, it wouldn’t be surprising to see either get short-term prove-it chances. The one aspect that is different heading into this offseason from last year is that there are more pressing needs all over the board, not to mention a lack of third-round picks.

The Lions have multiple holes to fill on their offensive line, depth questions at tight end and safety, and, depending on free agency, might need another piece at linebacker, too. That could lead to the Lions drafting an unheralded name at the edge rusher spot. And even though some of the recent developmental dart throw picks haven’t worked over the last couple of years (yet). Holmes is going to trust his process.

“Look, as long as they’re made up of the right kind of stuff, that’s really – I think that’s the main thing that matters,“ Holmes said earlier this month. ”If they have the — yeah, there’s a baseline of talent that you have to have for this league. Still, they have to have the right temperament, the right intangible qualities, the right football character, regardless if that’s a higher floor player, if that’s a developmental player. If someone’s going to be highly competitive to add whether it’s a young guy then players like that, they can add some discomfort, and I think that’s necessary from a competition standpoint.

“So, it’s not really going to change the calculus in terms of, do we take a guy that’s a little more developmental? It could be — we took a developmental player that is about as higher motored as it can get (Hassanein), and he can frustrate a lot of players in practice because of that and I think that’s a good thing. We just need to make sure they’re made up of the right stuff. I have my antennas peaked up that we don’t go the opposite and start looking for this more talented player that may not have the other stuff, and so that’s going to be a focal point that we’re going to have to have going forward.”