Historic Aidan Hutchinson contract extension well worth it for Lions
Reacting to the Aidan Hutchinson contract extension with the Detroit Lions and what it means, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
Don’t be surprised if the Detroit Lions don’t make any big splashes before the Nov. 4 NFL trade deadline. But there are still positions that could be upgraded for the second half of the regular season.
At 5-2, the Lions are not only looking like one of the best teams in the NFL, but are also overcoming significant injuries on the defensive side with high-quality depth. They’ll also return high-impact players like safety Brian Branch, who served a one-game suspension for his involvement in a fight at the end of their Week 6 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, and defensive end Marcus Davenport at some point this season.
Additionally, the Lions are hoping to bring back starting cornerback Terrion Arnold and backup defensive back Avonte Maddox, who both returned to practice on Tuesday, Oct. 28, as well as safety Kerby Joseph, who’s dealing with a knee injury.
Still, the Lions have positional needs that key upgrades at the trade deadline could address. Here are the three biggest.
Cornerback
The Lions made cornerback D.J. Reed the team’s biggest offseason signing ahead of the 2025 season for a reason — Detroit was thin at the cornerback position, becoming even thinner when 2024 second-round pick Ennis Rakestraw Jr. was placed on injured reserve in August.
So when Reed was put on injured reserve on Oct. 1 and with Arnold missing the Monday night game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team’s need for a starting-caliber cornerback jumped significantly. At least, that’s how it looked before the Bucs game.
With the Lions missing all four of their starters in the secondary against the Bucs, the defense played arguably its best game of the season, limiting Tampa to 210 passing yards and just one touchdown with a unit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard dubbed “The Legion of Whom” — featuring players like Arthur Maulet, Erick Hallett and Nick Whiteside.
Still, the Lions were inquiring about cornerback options last week, per The Athletic’s Diana Russini, and getting some more experienced help would certainly benefit the unit.
Left tackle
It’s no secret that left tackle Taylor Decker has been battling a shoulder injury all season, with the veteran saying he didn’t feel great playing in the Bucs game after a two-week absence.
A fully-healthy Decker makes this Lions offensive line one of the most fearsome in the league, but the Lions don’t have much depth behind him, with backup Gio Manu on injured reserve and Dan Skipper struggling in his two games played so far this season.
Starting-caliber offensive tackles are hard to come by on the trade market, however, making this a difficult position to address for the Lions. Decker is on the team’s injury report ahead of their Sunday game against the Minnesota Vikings, and Lions fans just might have to get used to that throughout the rest of the season.
Edge rusher
The biggest transaction news from the Lions so far in 2025 is the signing of edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson to a four-year, $180 million extension. The second biggest transaction news, arguably, is that the Lions haven’t signed anyone to pair with Hutchinson on the other side of the line.
There are plenty of deadline targets reportedly available, including Maxx Crosby (Las Vegas Raiders), Jaelen Phillips (Miami Dolphins) and Trey Hendrickson (Cincinnati Bengals). All could make effective complements to Hutchinson, but all could come with a price that the Lions might deem too expensive.
That hasn’t stopped the Lions from searching around, however, per a report from Russini from Oct. 18.
You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.