The Lions want to sign star edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson to a contract extension, but they have not had any "intense talks" yet.
“Look, we'll definitely get some dialogue going soon here, but those things take time, especially the larger the deal is," General Manager Brad Holmes said Wednesday on 97.1 The Ticket.
Holmes said at the Scouting Combine that the Lions were in the "planning stages" for a Hutchinson extension. Since then, edge rushers Maxx Crosby (three years, $106.5 million), Myles Garrett (four years, $160 million) and T.J. Watt (three years, $123 million) have signed extensions.
Hutchinson is scheduled to make $5.575 million this year and $19.872 million in 2026 on the fifth-year option.
In three seasons, he has 28.5 sacks and 65 quarterback hits.
He played only five games last season before fracturing his tibia and fibula in a game against the Cowboys, but he has returned looking like himself.
“As the player, he’s [Hutchinson] looked great,” Holmes said, via Ryan Mathews of prideofdetroit.com. “I’m really not all that surprised just because of tracking him since college, since his early days at Michigan, he had that big injury [fractured ankle] at Michigan, and he came back, I think nobody would argue, a better player. I don’t want to say it’s exactly the same because the games haven’t kicked off yet, but what he’s showing in practice, the change of direction, the explosiveness. I mean, he’s not [showing] any effects, but I’m not surprised when a guy like him has that kind of mindset.”
