Aidan Hutchinson Spoke With Elite Pass Rusher About Joining Lions in 2025

When healthy, the 2024 Detroit Lions defense lacked two things: an elite veteran presence and an additional pass rusher to pair with Aidan Hutchinson. Once Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett informed his team of his trade request, many Detroit Lions fans connected the dots.

Certainly, Garrett would be an excellent addition to the Detroit defense. While there are some hurdles the Lions' front office would have to clear to make the move, one bit of business is already underway as Hutchinson has already begun recruiting the former NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

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Hutchinson told The Squeeze podcast this week that he caught up with Garrett and discussed how dangerous their pairing would be.

"If me and Myles were to pair up, that would be deadly, you know?" Hutchinson said. "I was talking to him, we were at the Honors, and we were just talking about what could be. And although it's probably unlikely, I think I would be thrilled to play next to him if it were to happen. But, yeah, our whole D-line would be totally elevated, and we would, whew, that'd be a scary defensive line."

As mentioned, there are hurdles to overcome. The biggest is that Garrett isn't likely to be moved from Cleveland until after June 1 at the latest due to the financial structure of his contract. The Browns would save nearly $18 million in dead cap money by waiting for a post-June 1 move.

The other aspects revolve around Detroit's moves prior to then. Brad Holmes and his staff can't simply progress through free agency and the NFL Draft as if landing Garrett in a mid-summer trade is a sure thing. Once the NFL's spring calender is over, Detroit will need the assets, both for trading for and for paying Garrett, at their disposal.

Still, Lions fans can allow a bit more hope to rise in the idea that one of the NFL's best veteran pass rushers could be coming to the Motor City.