The team doesn’t have much to write home about behind Hutchinson, however. As a result, the team has been floated as a logical landing spot for pass rushers like Myles Garrett and Trey Hendrickson.

Garrett is no longer an option as the star veteran inked a massive extension with the Cleveland Browns. Hendrickson appears to still be available, but recent comments from general manager Brad Holmes indicate that the Lions will not be a suitor.

Speaking at the NFL league meetings in Orlando on Monday, Holmes mentioned that the team “couldn’t afford” to keep edge-rusher Za’Darius Smith, who was released earlier this offseason.

“We couldn’t afford it is the bottom line… That was my communication with him, and he understood that,” Holmes explained.

The Lions cut Smith last month before he was set to make around $11 million in 2025. Since the Lions didn’t want to pay Smith, Holmes also added that the team was likely done spending big money in free agency.

“We’re still monitoring, but what happens is now you get to a point that we have a lot of young players on our team that we’re still excited about,” he said. “It may not be players that have gotten a lion’s share of snaps in the regular season of last year, but that we’ve been watching throughout the year that we’re really excited about.”

These comments indicate the team is not going to be making the big splash at edge that fans were hoping for. If the Lions couldn’t afford to pay Smith’s salary, they won’t be able to absorb a big contract like Hendrickson’s, for example.

Over the cap projects, the Lions to have around $43 million in remaining cap space. However, Holmes is thinking ahead to the extensions he’s going to have to hand out to key players, like Hutchinson and Kerby Joseph.

We would still expect the Lions to make some kind of veteran addition along the edge in free agency, and Detroit will likely draft an edge rusher, also.