After signing a life-changing contract ... "not much really changes," Aidan Hutchinson said with a laugh. He put pen to paper on Wednesday, received congratulatory texts from Michael Strahan and J.J. Watt, "but then you wake up and it’s Thursday practice all over."
And with two years remaining on his current deal, "you’re like, this thing isn’t even hitting until (2027)," Hutchinson said. "It’s funny when you look at the grand scheme of things."
For the Lions, the grand scheme of things has never looked better. They opened a Super Bowl window by drafting exceptionally well under Brad Holmes, and nailing a trade for a franchise quarterback. They have widened it by locking their core pieces in place, a process that started a year ago with extensions for Amon-Ra St. Brown and Penei Sewell, and soon thereafter for Jared Goff.
With Hutchinson secured for $180 million, the Lions have now committed almost one billion dollars to keep 10 of their best players, nine of whom were acquired by the current regime, seven via the draft. With a long line outside Holmes' door.
"It’s huge," said Hutchinson. "It shows Brad’s dedication to his draft class and the guys he’s brought in, the guys that he believes are those pillars of the team. What can I say? I’m excited to play with Jared, Kerby (Joseph), Penei, St. Brown -- all those guys that have gotten paid. It’s exciting to have them around because it’s fun to play football with them on Sundays."
It's fun because they're winning. Three years ago to the day, the Lions were 4-19-1 under Holmes and Dan Campbell. They're 40-11 since, best in the NFL. And while the regular season success won't really matter if they don't stamp it with a Super Bowl, "everybody knows we've got the pieces," Hutchinson said, which is half the battle in a league where most teams are stuck searching for them. "We've just got to go out there and do it."
Hutchinson arrived in 2022, along with Joseph and fellow first-round pick Jameson Williams. All three of them are now signed through at least 2029 -- Hutchinson through 2030 -- with Joseph cashing in for $86 million after leading the NFL in interceptions last year, Williams for $83 million after putting up his first 1,000-yard season.
Joseph grinned when asked abut Hutchinson getting the bag and said, "I’m just thankful because Hutch said he would buy me a Trackhawk. He said he would buy dinner for everybody, so super excited for that, just waiting on him, I like banana pudding." In all seriousness, said Joseph, "it’s good that they’re keeping everybody here." The brotherhood in the Lions' locker room is real, which is a big part of the culture they've created under Campbell.
"We all came in together, we learned together, we grew together," Williams said. "Our relationships got stronger. And by the way we play for each other, you can just tell how much we love each other and how hard we will go for the next man."
"All the dollars and stuff, we like money!" Joseph laughed. "Everybody gettin’ paid, it’s good for them and their family. It’s a dream come true for a lot of guys because this is what we work our asses off for, getting to the second contract."
Holmes' first draft class was quite possibly the best in Lions history, though 2023 will have something to say (and pay) about that. Headlined by two All-Pros at key positions in Sewell and St. Brown, it features another rising star in defensive tackle Alim McNeill. St. Brown and McNeill are locked up through 2028 for $120 million and $97 million, respectively. Sewell, arguably the best offensive tackle in football, is secured through 2029 for $112 million.
McNeill had a pithy three-word response to Hutchinson's payday: "Are you surprised?" The two of them share the same agent, so they were friends before they became teammates. They actually trained together in the lead-up to Hutchinson's draft, "and even from seeing him then," said McNeill, "I was like, yeah, he puts in the work." The work doesn't stop. That's been McNeill's mentality since his payday last October.
"It’s like, OK, now it’s time to go even harder, now it’s time to turn up even more," said McNeill. "Everybody’s goal is to play for as long as you can and play for one time as long as you can, so I’m happy to be able to do that, but now that that’s in place, I can just ball, I can just ball out, I don’t have to worry about nothin. Not that I was worried about anything before, it’s just a different mindset now, and I think that’s how everybody is here. You get re-upped like that, now it’s time to go even harder. I feel like sometimes you see guys get re-upped and they just get a little complacent — not here."
The big-money deals look better with each year, which is why Holmes has been so proactive in paying his best players. Goff became the NFL's second-highest paid quarterback when he landed $53 million per year last May. He's now tied for seventh, while leading the league in passing yards, passing touchdowns and completion percentage over the past three seasons.
St. Brown briefly became the NFL's highest-paid wide receiver when he signed for $30 million per year last April; he's now seventh, while ranking second in receiving yards and tied for first in receiving touchdowns over the past three seasons and leading the league in catches since he showed up. Hutchinson's deal makes him the NFL's second highest-paid defensive end. He'll be further down that list by the time it kicks in two years from now.
"I think it’s really important to keep the guys together, especially your key players, guys that make a lot of plays for you," St. Brown said Thursday. "I think the Lions have done a good job of keeping their guys, they’re doing phenomenal, and we’re happy, the players are happy, we’re winning games and we just gotta continue to do that."
Even one of Holmes' smaller deals is starting to feel like a bargain. The Lions' decision to sign Derrick Barnes to a three-year, $24 million extension raised a lot of eyebrows last spring, with the former fourth-round pick coming off a knee injury and an up-and-down start to his career. Now, with salaries at that position climbing with the cap, and Barnes blossoming in his fifth season, the move looks shrewd.
The NFL salary cap has spiked by almost $100 million since Holmes' first year as GM in Detroit, and will continue to rise in the years ahead. Even extensions for left tackle Taylor Decker (three years, $60 million) and running back David Montgomery (two years, $18.25 million) were well-deserved and not all that cumbersome. Neither one will restrict the Lions in the future, with low dead cap hits should it ever come to that.
McNeill has always believed that if "you put in the work, the results will show." But he admits that "these types of results are different, financially setting up the rest of your life." He called it "surreal."
"Being one of the guys that the upstairs trusts enough to extend me here and have me here for four more years, I’m grateful for it. I don’t know how to put it into words how grateful I am for it," he said. "I dreamed of it."
Williams smiled Thursday and said, "Congratulations to my guy Hutch, my brother coming in." This past offseason, it felt like Williams might be the first star left out by the math in Detroit after Holmes pointed toward the soaring cost of receivers. The Lions turned around and found the money to make it work.
"It’s a smart, strategic move by Brad keeping the team together early because we got real-deal shots at going to get a championship," said Williams. "And 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. So I look at it as a real good, strategic move on his behalf."
The next wave of extensions is cresting, with the stars of the 2023 class Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell, Brian Branch and Sam LaPorta all eligible to sign new deals next offseason. Gibbs, Campbell and Branch feel like no-brainers. It's not impossible that the Lions could keep all four.
The total tab on Goff, Hutchinson, St. Brown, Sewell, McNeill, Joseph, Williams, Decker, Barnes and Montgomery is $992.25 million. How much of that gets paid out remains to be seen -- the combined guarantees are closer to $460 million -- but this much is clear: the Lions are all-in on their guys, with their first ever Super Bowl in sight.
"We know we have the talent and we have the coaches to do it, the culture," said Hutchinson "Everything is set and in place. That will always be the goal with this group."