Lions, Aidan Hutchinson agree to massive contract extension

DETROIT — Aidan Hutchinson, the homegrown heart and soul of the Detroit Lions’ defense, has agreed to a four-year contract extension with the team.

The deal is worth $180 million, including $141 million in guarantees, his agent, Mike McCartney of VaynerSports, confirmed to The Detroit News. That's the most guaranteed money for a non-quarterback in NFL history. In terms of average annual value, Green Bay's Micah Parsons ($46.5 million) is the only pass rusher ahead of Hutchinson ($45 million).

Hutchinson, already under contract for 2025 and 2026 before the extension, was the No. 2 pick out of Michigan in the 2022 NFL draft. He becomes the third member of general manager Brad Holmes’ second draft class to receive a significant contract extension, joining safety Kerby Joseph and wide receiver Jameson Williams.

In Holmes' first class (2021), four players received multi-year extensions: Offensive tackle Penei Sewell, defensive lineman Alim McNeill, receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and linebacker Derrick Barnes.

Hutchinson, 25, is off to another torrid start in his return from injury, collecting six sacks and an NFL-best 48 pressures through his first seven games in 2025. Hutchinson, who saw his third campaign come to an early end after breaking his leg against the Dallas Cowboys last October, led the NFL in pressures (45) and sacks (7 1/2) before getting hurt last season. He was the early favorite for Defensive Player of the Year and remained the NFL’s pressure leader until Week 8, when his total was surpassed by Nick Bosa (San Francisco 49ers).

Over his first two seasons, Hutchinson appeared in all 37 games (including playoffs) for Detroit and averaged 10 1/2 sacks during the regular season, finishing as the runner-up for Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2022 and making his first Pro Bowl in 2023 after an 11 1/2-sack, 121-pressure campaign.

“Every time you watch him, he gets better and better, and I was pretty blown away last night,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said after Hutchinson recorded a career-high 4 1/2 sacks in a Week 2 loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season.

“He’s a force. He’s a force. … He’s just relentless, he’s powerful, he’s explosive.”

Despite the severity of his leg injury, which required immediate surgery at a Dallas-area hospital, Hutchinson remained adamant he would be able to return for the Super Bowl, if the Lions had been able to make it that far. Campbell repeatedly warned against such optimism, but noted, “If anybody can come back from this, it would be Aidan.” The point ultimately became moot as the Lions fell to the Washington Commanders, 45-31, in the NFC’s divisional round.

Still, as highlighted by Campbell’s comments, Hutchinson’s dedicated work ethic is the shining example of what the Lions want their players to be.

Shortly before Detroit’s 2024 opener, former Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said of Hutchinson, “Hutch has had a tremendous offseason. He had a tremendous training camp, and now he’s at the point that he needs to set his sights at being, if not the best player defensively in this league, to one of the best players — which he is, but now it’s time to look at himself as the best player.”

Since graduating from Dearborn Divine Child High School, Hutchinson has been at the forefront of reviving two local programs. In Hutchinson’s senior year at Michigan (2021), the Wolverines snapped an eight-game losing streak against rival Ohio State — a 42-27 victory at Michigan Stadium in which Hutchinson sacked Buckeyes quarterback C.J. Stroud three times — and a 17-year drought as Big Ten champions, reaching the College Football Playoff for the first time in school history.

With his multi-sack performance against Ohio State, Hutchinson set Michigan’s single-season sack record (14), a distinction previously owned by his father, Chris. He was named a unanimous All-American and finished as runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.

Two years later, Hutchinson helped propel Detroit to its first division title in 30 years as the Lions won two playoff games — doubling their total (one) from 1957-2022 — en route to an NFC championship appearance, where the Lions came up short by way of a furious second-half comeback by the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium.

Though Hutchinson didn’t necessarily grow up donning the Honolulu blue — “My dad’s from Texas, so he was never a big Lions fan,” he said last year — he acknowledged the surreal nature of the team’s turnaround ahead of the NFC title game.

“Growing up here, you grow up with a lot of the ‘Same Old Lions’ stuff, and a lot of the tragedy and whatever you want to call it,” Hutchinson said. “I see videos of little kids (excited about the Lions), and just like, seeing that generation growing up with this Lions team and the Lions teams to come, it’s just cool to have two different perspectives on it and to see kind of both sides of the coin.”

Entering the 2022 draft, Hutchinson was long believed to be the obvious No. 1 pick before Jacksonville ultimately chose to select Georgia pass rusher Travon Walker. Though Walker has steadily improved into a really good player, he has yet to exhibit the sky-high potential of Hutchinson. And he probably won’t be getting paid like him either.