The Detroit Lions were humbled by Micah Parsons and the Green Bay Packers in Week 1. Parsons injected new life into the Packers, which helped propel them to a 27-13 statement win. Now, to add insult to injury, Parsons could be complicating Detroit's efforts to extend edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson.
ESPN's Dan Graziano explained the situation in an article published on Wednesday. He noted that Detroit has already extended Jameson Williams, but still needs to get a deal done with Hutchinson.
“They've had productive talks but no agreement yet, and considering the extent to which the Micah Parsons deal set a new bar for edge rusher contracts, it could get complicated,” Graziano wrote on Wednesday.
Parsons signed a four-year, $188 million contract with the Packers after his trade from the Cowboys.
That means the price tag just went up on Hutchinson. That is especially troublesome for the Lions because they'll soon have plenty more players to extend.
“The Lions have a lot of incentive to get this done before next spring, when their stellar 2023 draft class — including Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell, Sam LaPorta and Brian Branch — becomes extension-eligible for the first time,” Graziano added.
It will be interesting to see if Detroit does extend Hutchinson before next offseason as Graziano suggests.
Should the Lions have extended Aidan Hutchinson before 2025 season?
The Lions may have to pay through the nose if they want to keep Hutchinson.
So should Detroit have tried harder to extend Hutch before Parsons got his huge extension from the Packers?
Parsons likely did not factor into Detroit's decision-making process here. For one reason, there was plenty of mystery surrounding whether or not Parsons would be traded at all.
One could argue that Parsons was going to be paid soon, one way or the other. But even so, the Lions cannot control every other NFL team. They also should not feel forced to make big decisions because of what other teams are doing.
There's also Hutchinson's injury to consider.
Hutch deserves credit for battling back from his serious leg injury from 2024. But while Hutchinson's recovery is impressive, it likely put him at a disadvantage during negotiations.
It is reasonable for the Lions to want proof that Hutch is still his old self on the field before extending him.
As such, how well Hutchinson plays in 2025 could go a long way towards guaranteeing himself future money.
Perhaps Hutchinson will make a splash in Week 2 against the Bears.
