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Adam Schefter, ESPN senior essayist
Assets associated with Aidan Hutchinson believe the Lions standout defensive end will have a good chance to return to the Super Bowl if Detroit makes a big run.
One source even went so far as to tell ESPN that, realizing Hutchinson and his trauma, it would be more unexpected if he didn’t rebuild for a potential Super Bowl appearance than if he did.
Hutchinson is recovering from Sunday night surgery on his broken left tibia and fibula at the Baylor White Scientific Center in Irving, Texas.
Hutchinson doesn’t believe this trauma is as unfortunate as the one he suffered as a junior at Michigan in 2020, when he fractured his right ankle and missed all but three games that season.
The Lions listed Hutchinson as injured safe this date, but educator Dan Campbell said he anticipates a four- to six-month healing process and declined to call it a season-ending trauma.
“I would never rule out Hutch,” Campbell said Monday. “So it’s probably a long road, but I would never rule it out, and I would say if anyone can come back, it would be him.”
Detroit is already calling other teams to inquire about defensive end availability, based on league assets. But the Lions, who have already re-signed many of their players and are making plans to re-sign more, do not have unlimited financial resources and are limited in the type of defensive finish they can achieve.
Furthermore, the Lions would need the support and cooperation of all other business groups and, so far, no business opportunities have been presented to them. Detroit will reserve an opportunity to take a look, but the team also seems happy to rely on its wave defensive core.
One player the Lions could be interested in is Cleveland Browns defensive end Za’Darius Smith, a three-time Pro Bowler who has 63 career sacks, including three this season.
Smith, 32, has a year left on his contract at the end of this season, but he is a player Cleveland wants to reserve. He will receive a base salary of $1.21 million this season and a base salary of $1.5 million later, plus another $9 million in bonuses.
For now, the Lions depend on Hutchinson and remember him. The Lions’ defensive view on Alim McNeill found the value of his new four-year extension to be $97 million and thought it was somehow not involuntary, seeing it as a tribute to Hutchinson, who wears Disagree. 97.
Even if Hutchinson was lost for the rest of the regular season, he was lucky with many of the cases surrounding his trauma.
AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys where Hutchinson suffered the trauma, is located about 10 minutes from the Baylor White Scientific Center, considered one of the world’s leading hospitals for injuries like the one he suffered. The doctor who operated on Hutchinson is also considered one of the best in the world at repairing the type of trauma he suffered.
Hutchinson did not have any ligament, nerve or artery damage (just the damaged bones) before a rod was inserted into his leg. As evil as the trauma was, Hutchinson was considered lucky to be on the playground he was on while he was.
Hutchinson, 24, leads the NFL with 7.5 sacks this season, his third since being decided by the Lions with the Disagree. 2 selected in the 2022 draft.
ESPN’s Eric Woodyard contributed to this record.
