It was a formality to happen pretty quickly, but Aidan Hutchinson has agreed to terms on his rookie deal with the Detroit Lions.
With rookie salaries slotted in via the collective bargaining agreement over a decade ago, the days of lengthy first-round pick holdouts are all but gone with only offset language to really haggle over. But Monday morning’s news is still good news for the Detroit Lions. According to multiple reports, No. 2 overall pick Aidan Hutchinson has agreed to terms on his rookie contract.
Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, it’s a fully guaranteed deal worth $35.7 million over four years with a $23.15 million signing bonus. The deal, as is the case for all NFL first-round picks, has a fifth-year option. Spotrac has the cap hits for each year of the deal.
Aidan Hutchinson’s contract with the #Lions is a fully guaranteed 4 year, $35.7M deal, including $23.8M in 2022, and cap hits of:
— Spotrac (@spotrac) May 9, 2022
22: $6.4M
23: $8.1M
24: $9.7M
25: $11.3M
26: option
Full Breakdown: https://t.co/8bWhYOkkAS
Via Kyle Meinke of MLive, Hutchinson has already said what he plans on buying.
“Definitely a Ford Bronco,” Hutchinson said.
At an average of $8.9 million per year, Hutchinson becomes the Lions’ seventh-highest paid player, behind Jared Goff, Taylor Decker, Frank Ragnow, Romeo Okwara, DJ Chark and Halapoulivaati Vaitai.
Aidan Hutchinson not only Lions rookie to sign his deal Monday morning
According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, Lions’ seventh-round pick cornerback Chase Lucas has also signed. His deal is worth $3.76 million over four years, with a signing bonus of $116,876. So Detroit has literally signed the first and last of their eight 2022 draft picks, with the rest (Jameson Williams, Josh Paschal, Kerby Joseph, James Mitchell, Malcolm Rodriguez, James Houston) sure to come before rookie minicamp starts on Friday.
However it is worth noting, as reported by Meinke, that the Lions didn’t have their entire 2021 rookie class signed until July 23 last year. That’s when third-round pick cornerback Ifeatu Melifonwu finally signed, just before training camp started.
Hutchinson set Michigan’s single-season school record for sacks last year with 14. He’ll be called on to immediately help a Lions’ pass rush that was toward the bottom of the league in practically every category last year.