Members of the Detroit Lions 2022 draft class are entering the final year of their rookie NFL contracts.
Five of the eight players the Lions drafted in 2022, including Aidan Hutchinson and Jameson Williams, are still on the roster.
The Detroit Lions front office can lock up key pieces of its core long-term beginning this offseason.
Members of the Lions 2022 draft class are entering the final year of their rookie NFL contracts, meaning players like edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, wide receiver Jameson Williams and safety Kerby Joseph are now eligible to receive contract extensions.
Five of the eight players the Lions drafted in 2022 — Hutchinson, Williams, Joseph, edge rusher Josh Paschal and linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez — are still on the roster. Fifth-round tight end James Mitchell, sixth-round edge rusher James Houston and seventh-round cornerback Chase Lucas are no longer Lions players.
Hutchinson and Williams, the No. 2 and No. 12 overall picks in 2022, also have a fifth-year option on their rookie deal, meaning the Lions can extend their original deals through 2026 and also offer an extension. Last offseason, the Lions picked up the fifth-year option for right tackle Penei Sewell while also signing him to a four-year contract extension to keep him in Detroit through the 2029 season.
Here’s what a potential extension could look like for each player.
Aidan Hutchinson
Hutchinson was on pace to have a record-breaking season before breaking his leg in October. Before going down, Hutchinson had 7½ sacks and 45 pressures in five games, according to Pro Football Focus. He would have likely made his first All-Pro team if he had stayed healthy, but instead he spent most of the season recovering and rehabbing from the injury. Hutchinson expects to be fully healthy by the start of the 2025 season.
There are four different tiers of fifth-year option salaries based on a player’s accomplishments on a rookie deal. As a one-time Pro Bowler and his position as an edge rusher, Hutchinson’s fifth-year option is projected to be worth $23.19 million, according to Over the Cap.
An extension would likely make Hutchinson one of the highest-paid players in the NFL because of his value at a key position. The highest-paid defensive linemen in the NFL are Nick Bosa, who signed a five-year $170 million extension worth $34 million a year, and Josh Hines-Allen, who signed for five years at $141.25 million worth $28.25 million a year.
The top five edge rusher deals occupied between 11% and 15% of their team’s overall cap space at the time of signing, according to Spotrac. That would likely be a similar range for Hutchinson.
The NFL is projecting the 2025 salary cap to jump to somewhere between $277.5 to $281.5 million. A deal worth 10% of the cap would be worth between $27.75 million and $28.15 million per season, which would be worth $138.75 million and $140.75 million in a five-year contract. If the deal is closer to 15% like Bosa, the annual average value could be $41.63 million and $42.23 million, which would come out to from $208.15 million to $211.13 million over five years.
Jameson Williams
Williams is eligible for the basic fifth-year option worth $15.55 million after not meeting the requirements for play time or Pro Bowl appearances in his first three seasons.
Williams stepped into a key role in the offense in 2024 after struggling to find the field as a rookie and sophomore as a result of injuries and off-the-field issues. He had 58 catches for 1,001 yards and seven touchdowns as the Lions second receiver.
Receiver contracts have drastically increased in recent years, as evidenced by Amon-Ra St. Brown’s extension last offseason. The highest-paid second receivers on a team are Jaylen Waddle, who signed an extension worth $28.25 million a year last offseason, and Devonta Smith, who signed an extension worth $25 million a year.
Williams does not have the same level of production of those two and has only one year of consistent production under his belt, which will likely bring his deal lower than those two. The Lions could also hand Williams the fifth-year option and wait to extend him until next offseason to gauge his value after another season as a full-time starter.
Kerby Joseph
Joseph had a breakout season in 2024. He earned first-team All-Pro honors at safety after leading the NFL in interceptions.
Joseph is entering the fourth and final year of his contract as a third-round pick. At his end-of-season press conference, general manager Brad Holmes said a Joseph extension is “on the docket in terms of to be looked at and discussed” and stressed it is always his goal to keep good players in Detroit.
The highest-paid safety in the NFL, Tampa’s Antoine Winfield Jr., signed a four-year $84.1 million deal last offseason worth just north of $21 million a year. The next two highest-paid safeties, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Derwin James, are on deals worth $18.4 and $19.1 million a year.
All of the deals for the top-paid safeties were worth between 6% and 8% of the cap when signing, which could put Joseph in the market to sign an extension of around $16 million to $23 million if Detroit deems him worthy of one of the top safety contracts in the NFL.
Josh Paschal
Paschal spent most of 2024 as a starting option on the defensive line after Hutchinson’s injury. The former second-round pick has been a rotational contributor his first three seasons with five career sacks and 12 tackles for loss.
It seems likely the Lions will let Paschal play out the final years of his deal without offering an extension, similar to what they did for defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike last season. However, an extension for a rotational edge rusher could cost around $5 to $10 million a year based on Spotrac’s list of defensive end contracts.
Malcolm Rodriguez
Rodriguez has been a serviceable backup option at linebacker and started in place of an injured Alex Anzalone this season before going down with a torn ACL. In three seasons, he has 102 solo tackles and 10 tackles for loss.
The Lions could let Rodriguez play out his final year or try to lock him up to a relatively cheap deal while he recovers. Anzalone is on a contract worth $6.1 million a season, so any Rodriguez deal would likely be well south of that number.
Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press. Follow Jared on X or Bluesky, and email him at .
Leave a Reply