Myles Garrett stole the spotlight early in Super Bowl week by requesting a trade out of Cleveland. The 2023 Defensive Player of the Year used his Radio Row time to double down on his trade demand and made it clear he wants to play for a contender.
The Detroit Lions are a possible landing spot as one of the best teams in the NFC. They already have a superstar defensive end, Aidan Hutchinson, who spoke about potentially teaming up with Garrett on a recent podcast appearance.
‘Deadly’: Aidan Hutchinson Has Thoughts About Lions Adding Myles Garrett
The Cleveland Browns made Garrett the first overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, and he quickly established himself as one of the best defenders in the league. He put up seven sacks in 11 games as a rookie and has had no fewer than 10 every year since.
In four of the last five seasons, he’s been named first-team All-Pro, collecting 72 of his 102.5 career sacks in that span. Garrett was named Defensive Player of the Year in 2023, finishing with 14 sacks, four forced fumbles, and 17 tackles for loss. He followed that up in 2024 with another 14 sacks and three forced fumbles and led the league with 22 tackles for loss.
The defensive end signed a five-year, $125 million extension with Cleveland in 2020, but does not intend to see the end of the contract as a Brown. The All-Pro put out a statement on X and speculation immediately began about where he would land. Former players tried to recruit the defensive star, and a video resurfaced of Garrett pleading with the Cowboys to draft him.
One of the common landing spots media members predicted was Detroit. The Lions secured the No. 1 seed in the NFC with a 15-2 record despite losing many key defensive contributors to injury. Hutchinson was one of those injured players, fracturing his tibia and fibula in Week 6.
The third-year defensive end is Detroit’s version of Garrett, having drafted him second overall in 2022. He’s posted 28.5 sacks in 39 career games and was on the way to a potential DPOY award before getting hurt with 7.5 sacaks in just five games in 2024. Hutchinson recently appeared on “The Squeeze” and was asked about potentially teaming up with Garrett.
Aidan Hutchinson speaks on potentially playing alongside Myles Garrett next season 👀
“I was talking to him, we were at the honors just talking about what could be”
🎥: YT/thesqueeze | #OnePride pic.twitter.com/UiQcTcMS8Q
— 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔢𝔱𝔯𝔬𝔦𝔱 𝔗𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔰 📰 (@the_det_times) February 19, 2025
Lions fan Taylor Lautner asked, “Any free agents out there that you wouldn’t mind seeing in Detroit next year? I did see a photo of you talking to Myles Garrett an NFL Honors.”
Hutchinson responded, “If me and Myles were to pair up, that would be deadly. I don’t know if we’ve seen anything like it. I know I was talking to him, we were just at the [NFL] Honors and we were just talking about what could be and although it’s probably unlikely, I think, I would be thrilled to play next to him if it were to happen.
“But yeah, I mean our whole D-line would be just totally elevated and we would be a scary defensive line and we’d get along too I think. I’ve seen him these last few years at different things. He texted me after I got hurt, which I don’t know, it was just a cool thing like guys outside of your own team who reach out to you. So I think he’s a good dude and if he does great, but I don’t know. We’ll see.”
It’s fairly obvious Hutchinson and Garrett would be the most dangerous defensive end combo in the game. Adding an All-Pro to an already stout defense, when healthy, could be seen as unfair. But Lions fans should be hoping their front office figures out how to get that deal done.