The Detroit Lions were severely impacted by injuries throughout the 2024 season, with the defense bearing the brunt of the damage. This led to a disastrous performance from the unit during their playoff loss to the Washington Commanders.
Two key players the Lions lost on defense last season were edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson and linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez. Hutchinson sustained a broken tibia and fibula in Week 6 against the Dallas Cowboys, while Rodriguez tore his ACL during the Thanksgiving game against the Chicago Bears.
On Friday, Hutchinson provided an update on his recovery through social media, posting a video of himself sprinting, signaling that he’s getting closer to a return to the field. “Feelin like myself again,” Hutchinson’s post said.
Rodriguez also shared a progress update, posting a video that showed him lightly sprinting just over four months after his injury—a promising sign for his recovery.
From these updates, it seems that both Rodriguez and Hutchinson should be ready for the start of the 2025 season. Lions general manager Brad Holmes recently expressed confidence in Hutchinson’s readiness for Week 1. “I mean, look, we don’t have a crystal ball on anything,” Holmes said, as reported by Justin Rogers of the Detroit Football Network. “We’re just gonna see where it’s at. But I’ve seen enough movement and mobility on running in this stage that I feel very confident about where he’s gonna be at.”
Hutchinson will enter his fourth NFL season in 2025. The Lions must decide on his fifth-year option by May 1, though picking it up seems like a no-brainer. After that, Detroit will need to work on extending their star EDGE, though delaying the extension may drive up the cost as more top edge rushers sign new deals.
“We had it in that range, kind of already, when we do our future planning and budgeting,” Holmes noted regarding Hutchinson’s potential new contract. “But then obviously, when it goes up, it just goes up, and that’s just what you gotta prepare for. I don’t know what it’ll end up being. That’s the difficult part about our job, but we work really hard in terms of the prediction forecasting of that market. He’s just one of many that we’ve had to budget.”
Rodriguez is entering the final year of his contract in 2025 and is expected to be the No. 4 linebacker behind Jack Campbell, Alex Anzalone, and Derrick Barnes, who is also recovering from a significant injury. A standout season could increase Rodriguez’s chances of attracting interest as a starter from other teams in free agency in 2026, potentially earning him a significant payday.
