Aidan Hutchinson couldn't contain his excitement about returning to the Detroit Lions' OTAs ahead of the 2025 season. The Pro Bowl pass rusher missed almost all of the 2024 season because of a gruesome broken leg he suffered during a Week 5 bout with the Dallas Cowboys, but he's back to get up to NFL speed and compete for another Pro Bowl spot.
Hutchinson was on track to lead the league in sacks in 2024, picking up a whopping 7.5 sacks in just five weeks of NFL action with the Lions. He could've likely beat out Trey Hendrickson for the honor, who finished up his season with the Cincinnati Bengals with 17.5 sacks.
Hutchinson can likely get back to that level of glory in 2025, especially if his fellow defensive linemen in Marcus Davenport, D.J. Reader, and rookie Tyleik Williams can take some pressure off of him to carry the line as their lead pass rusher. If he does, then he's going to be due for a massive pay day.
And, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Hutchinson will probably be seeing a deal that makes him one of the best paid pass rushers in the league.
Myles Garrett set to have competition as highest-paid pass rusher in league
Garrett made history this offseason when he received a contract that pays him $40 million per year and includes $123.5 million in guaranteed money from the Cleveland Browns, which made him the highest paid non-QB in the NFL at the time the deal was agreed upon.
It's deserved, considering Garrett decided not to stand his ground and get a trade to a winning team and stayed with a team currently going through yet another rebuild. Hutchinson is in a far different spot, being with Detroit during their renaissance. He's also a majorly impactful member of their young core, so he's going to be due a massive extension now that he's back to 100 percent health.
Detroit has an excellent amount of cap space to work with, mostly because they've hit on so many of their recent draft picks that are still playing on their rookie deals - Hutchinson is one of those players. They can easily work out a deal with him and players like Jahmyr Gibbs, retaining their core while still having quarterback Jared Goff under contract.
We still need to get through Hutchinson's initial drills in OTAs, but it sure looks like he's about to be a handsomely paid defender in the league once he shows he'll be just as impactful on defense in 2025 as he would've been with a full 2024 season under his belt.
