Detroit Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson on playing over 90% of snaps
Detroit Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson said he trusts his coaches to know when he needs a break and will take himself out if he can’t give 100%.
Detroit Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson didn’t display too much excitement at his news conference Thursday, Oct. 30, following the four-year, $180 million contract extension he signed with the Lions on Wednesday.
Instead, he showed a more relaxed emotion.
“Me hearing the news and hearing the offer coming in, to me, you get that deep relief,” Hutchinson said. “I was very uninvolved in the process, so there wasn’t too much focus, but as uninvolved as you (are), it’s still something that’s there. But now I feel like with that not being there, really, I’m all in.”
A fourth-year star out of Michigan who played at Dearborn Divine Child, Hutchinson has notched 34½ sacks since his rookie season in 2022, when he finished second in the Defensive Rookie of the Year vote.
But he’s not the only star the Lions have developed since then. Heck, he’s not the only star from the Lions’ 2022 draft class.
Wide receiver Jameson Williams, who was drafted along with Hutchinson in 2022’s first round (10 picks after Hutchinson, at No. 12), congratulated his teammate in his own post-practice news conference on Thursday and also spoke on the team’s potential with Hutchinson now extended.
“I look at it as a smart, strategic move by Brad (Holmes) keeping the team together early,” Williams said. “We’ve got real-deal shots at wanting to get a championship. (If) we win one, we can go back-to-back, or back-to-back-to-back with the same roster, because the same guys are coming back.”
That cohesion was a big theme at Lions practice on Thursday, with multiple players and coaches talking about the team’s general manager signing many of the team’s best players to rich extensions … and hopefully extending this team’s window for contention.
“It shows Brad’s dedication to his draft class and the guys that he’s brought in,” Hutchinson said. “I’m excited to play with Jared (Goff), Kerby (Joseph), Penei (Sewell), (Amon-Ra) St. Brown – all those guys that have gotten paid, it’s exciting to have them around because it’s exciting to play football with them on Sundays.”
Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard, who played in the league from 2011-18, gave some perspective on what it means for players to see the biggest talents in the locker room get taken care of.
“It feels good to know that if I’m drafted here and I do what I need to do, that I’m going to be taken care of here, and I don’t ever need to look, reach or go wonder, ‘Where do I stand?'” he said.
Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who signed his own four-year extension in April of 2024, echoed Hutchinson’s sentiments about cohesion.
“I think it’s really important to keep the guys together, especially your key players that make a lot of plays for you. The Lions have done a great job of keeping their guys,” he said.
After news broke of his contract extension, Hutchinson said he got congratulation texts from Hall of Famer Michael Strahan and five-time All-Pro J.J. Watt … but not former Michigan teammate J.J. McCarthy, the Minnesota Vikings quarterback who Hutchinson will face on Sunday, Nov. 1.
“No, I did not get a text from any Minnesota Viking, unfortunately,” he said while smirking.
The well-wishes, congratulations and thoughts of team cohesion are nice, but the Lions likely didn’t sign Hutchinson because they wanted to do right by a loyal player. They signed him because they think he’ll be an important part of a Super Bowl-winning team — the same reason they signed Goff, Joseph, Sewell, St. Brown and Williams, plus Taylor Decker and David Montgomery, to extensions.
A Super Bowl is Hutchinson’s primary goal, too, and he didn’t dismiss Williams’s idea of the Lions potentially going back-to-back-to-back.
“Everybody knows we have the pieces, we just gotta go out there and do it,” he said. “Everything is set and in place. Last year was what it was, but … it will always be the goal with this group.”
You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com