Last year, only three months after they became eligible for new deals, the Lions signed tackle Penei Sewell and receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown to significant extensions during draft week. This year, will defensive end Aidan Hutchinson get his during draft week?
Team president Rod Wood opted not to go there when asked about it on Monday.
“No comment,” Wood said Monday during the pre-draft event at the Detroit Economic Club, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “He will be here the long haul, I can assure you of that.”
Although not talking about whether it’ll happen in the next couple of days, Wood seemed to be willing to express optimism that it will be done in time.
“We’ll start working on that,” Wood said. “And we have a track record of extending our own players, which we’ve done that recently with Sewell and St. Brown and [defensive tackle] Alim McNeill, and I think that Hutch is likely to be coming up soon.”
Here’s the problem. Hutchinson suffered a serious leg injury in 2024. He won’t want to carry the injury risk in 2025, although the Lions might be inclined to kick the can until it’s clear Hutchinson is good to go.
Hutchinson suffered a fluke injury while doing his job. He has every right to expect the Lions to set that aside and give him the contract he would’ve gotten but for the injury. Whether they’ll do it remains to be seen.
The Lions spent many years in the shadow of the Packers, along with plenty of other teams. Now, the Lions are one of the top dogs. And one of their top executives has taken a shot at their rivals in Green Bay.
Speaking at the Detroit Economic Club’s annual NFL draft luncheon, Lions president Rod Wood addressed the team’s desire to host the draft again. And he commented on Green Bay’s looming turn as the epicenter of all things football.
“Trying to get the NFL to consider bringing it back [to Detroit] because I don’t think they’ll ever top it,” Wood said, via Marlowe Alter of the Detroit Free Press. “There’s no way Green Bay will come close. They’ll finish second or as I said [earlier], they’ll finish third like they did last year [in the NFC North].”
On one hand, it was all in good fun. On the other hand, Packers fans won’t see it that way. Which will make the Lions-Packers rivalry even more spicy in 2025.
One of the top running back prospects in the 2025 NFL draft had a couple more pre-draft visits.
Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo visited with the Lions and Titans, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Skattebo previously spent time with the Cardinals, Browns and Giants as he makes the rounds on his pre-draft visits.
Last year Skattebo was one of the biggest reasons that Arizona State was one of college football’s biggest surprises. He was a first-team All-American as Arizona State won the Big 12 championship, and he was named the Peach Bowl offensive MVP in a losing effort against Texas.
If one were to look at the many mock drafts being released ahead of next Thursday’s start to the actual draft, it would be fair to assume that the Lions are on track to add an edge rusher to their roster with the 28th overall pick.
They released Za’Darius Smith and have not signed any free agents at the spot while also talking about playing Josh Paschal on the interior more often during the 2025 season. That’s left many to predict that they’ll pluck a rookie to bolster the group as soon as possible, but General Manager Brad Holmes offered some caution when he spoke to reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.
Holmes said draft picks should be viewed as “future investments” rather than players who are going to be relied on for major impact right off the bat.
“I think you can get in trouble chasing needs sometimes, and then you’re depending on a rookie,” Holmes said, via the team’s website. “You do the best you can, but nobody has a crystal ball. So, it can be a tough world to live in.”
Holmes’s approach to roster building has taken the Lions from the basement to contender status in the NFC and that history buys a lot of room to veer off the expected course when the team is on the clock in the draft.
Veteran defensive end Za’Darius Smith was recently at a Detroit Pistons game, but his appearance in the stands was not a signal that he’s about to return to the Lions.
Smith was released last month and General Manager Brad Holmes said at the league meetings that the Lions “couldn’t afford” to keep Smith on the contract they inherited when they traded for him last season. Holmes didn’t rule out a return at that time and he didn’t rule one out during a Thursday press conference, but he didn’t make it sound like an agreement to bring him back is imminent either.
“No, we haven’t had any discussions since then,” Holmes said. “I think we kinda left it as his agent would let us know if something was going on or if anything’s changed.”
Smith had four sacks in eight regular season games after being acquired in a trade with the Browns.
As a rookie, Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold wore No. 0. He has made a change for 2025, as a tribute to a former teammate.
Via Eric Woodyard of ESPN.com, Arnold will wear No. 6 in honor of Khyree Jackson. Jackson, who played with Arnold at Alabama, died last July in a car accident.
Jackson wore No. 6 at Alabama. He transferred to Oregon before being selected by the Vikings in the fourth round of last year’s draft.
“We all know what happened to my friend Khyree and I just feel like just being able to honor his legacy and then the impact that he even had on me,” Arnold said on the New Wave Podcast. “The guy was a competitor, the ultimate competitor and it’s kind of just that extra motivation when you look down and you say, ‘Dang man, I got on that 6 and my brother living through me at the same time.’”
The driver who caused the crash that killed Jackson and two of his high-school teammates faces 13 criminal charges, including DUI and vehicular manslaughter.
Wide receiver Matthew Golden slowed down enough to meet with the Lions over the weekend.
Golden ran the fastest 40-yard dash of any wideout at this year’s Scouting Combine and Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that he paid a visit to the reigning NFC North champs.
Golden played two seasons at Houston before transferring to Texas for the 2024 season. He caught 58 passes for 907 yards and nine touchdowns before running the 40 in 4.29 seconds in Indianapolis earlier this year.
The Lions have Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Tim Patrick, and Kalif Raymond back from the 2024 season, but they could try to add a new wrinkle to the offense if Golden is available when they are on the board next week.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff has started all 17 games for three consecutive seasons. But if Goff goes down, the Lions want to know they have a backup they can win with. And determining that backup will be a major priority of the offseason program.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said signing Kyle Allen to have him compete with Hendon Hooker to see who deserves to back up Goff was important as part of the Lions’ philosophy that competition makes everyone better.
“Hooker, no different than Allen, are competing,” Campbell said. “The best way to help guys really reach their full potential is competition. You can say things. You can say things the best you can to prop them up. But at some point, you just have to go compete and it’s him or you. I anticipate Hooker’s going to compete. That’s what he does.”
Lions GM Brad Holmes echoed those comments, saying the Lions are excited about Hooker but think they can help him get better by forcing him to earn the No. 2 job in a competition with Allen, rather than simply handing him the job.
In the preseason, when Goff will play sparingly if at all, the Lions will be taking a close look at both Hooker and Allen to see which one of them looks more ready if the team needs him.
Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson posted a video of himself sprinting in February and his recovery from his season-ending broken fibula and tibia has just about reached the finished line with the team’s offseason program about to start.
Hutchinson gave an update on where things stand during an interview with Marty Smith of ESPN from The Masters golf tournament this week. Hutchinson said there were “pretty rough” moments early on the process, but that being through those times has left him with “this appreciation” for what his body is capable of doing.
That body has progressed to a point where Hutchinson said that his next stop was to officially put an end to the rehabilitation process.
“I’m there. I’d say I’m good,” Hutchinson said. “I’ve got my last evaluation tests when I get back — I leave today and I go back tomorrow to the rehab — I’m gonna finish those evals and once I knock them out of the park, I’ll be on my way and done with rehab. It was a long process, I’ll tell you that.”
Hutchinson had 28.5 sacks in 39 regular season games before his injury and three sacks in three playoff games, which makes it easy to understand why the Lions will be happy to have him back in the fold. It also makes it easy to understand why they might move sooner rather than later to lock him up with a long-term contract extension.
Detroit had the best regular season in franchise history last year, going 15-2 and earning the No. 1 seed in the NFC. However, the Lions failed to win a playoff game as they were upset at home by Washington in the Divisional Round. QB Jared Goff and head coach Dan Campbell now enter this season with a new-look staff.
Both coordinators got head coaching jobs this offseason, with OC Ben Johnson taking charge of the Bears and DC Aaron Glenn being named head coach of the Jets. LB coach Kelvin Sheppard was promoted to DC and Broncos passing game coordinator John Morton was brought in as the new OC.
GM Brad Holmes has reshaped the franchise through the draft. With six first-round picks over the last three years, Holmes has selected the likes of Penei Sewell, Aidan Hutchinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Jack Campbell. His best draft was in 2023, when he picked Sam LaPorta and Brian Branch in the 2nd round after getting Gibbs and Campbell in the first round.
Detroit Lions 2025 NFL Draft Picks
Round 1: No. 28
Round 2: No. 60
Round 3: No. 102 (Compensatory)
Round 4: No. 130
Round 6: No. 196 (from TB)
Round 7: No. 228 (from DAL)
Round 7: No. 244
