The Detroit Lions are officially on the clock. Again.
The NFL has landed its next star-headlined holdout, with Micah Parsons taking to social media on Friday to officially request a trade from the Dallas Cowboys. The request comes after, according to Parsons, Dallas continually tried to negotiate a new deal with the star pass rusher without his agent present. Dallas has already signalled they're not sending him anywhere, anytime soon.
This is just the latest perfect example for the Lions to not follow as it pertains to future negotiations with their star pass rusher, Aidan Hutchinson. Hutchinson hasn't received an extension on his current deal which extends into 2026.
He's clearly due for a massive pay day, evidenced by the Lions potentially being okay with letting Alex Anzalone walk next year in order to make it happen. But, they must make it happen - or else, they run the risk of looking like the Jerry Jones run Cowboys in a season.
Lions must avoid Hutchinson disaster after latest Micah Parsons developments
General manager Brad Holmes has to pay a hefty price to keep Hutchinson around, and the defender sounds primed to have a season so undeniably elite that he'll need a deal akin to that received by T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers or Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns. He's been lighting it up in training camp, appears even better than he did to start the 2024 season, and isn't afraid of contact on his leg that suffered a break last season.
Detroit has a ton of cap flexibility, which makes their situation a bit more unique compared to that of the Browns, for example. They're working with $48 million in cap room for this season, per Over the Cap, so they could get something done with the pass rusher this season. The issue, however, lies with 2026 and beyond.
READ MORE: This Lions-Cowboys trade finally brings Micah Parsons to Detroit
However, Detroit is projected to be in the red against the cap to the tune of $43.3 million. That's thanks to a whopping $55 million due to Jared Goff beginning next year, $27.5 million due to Amon-Ra St. Brown, and $19 million due to both Hutchinson and tackle Penei Sewell.
Major roster decisions regarding free agents that might demand a hefty price tag to stick around with the team seem imminent if Holmes and the Lions are bent on retaining Hutchinson.
Whatever it takes to make sure Hutchinson doesn't become the next Parsons, or Watt, or Garrett, should be of the highest priority for this front office, though. With concerns about his ability to bounce back from his 2024 injury beginning to fade with each passing day in training camp, it's becoming clearer that Detroit has to avoid a high profile contract dispute - a trend, it seems, becoming exclusive to pass rushers.
