After a horribly disappointing finish to the 2024 campaign, the Detroit Lions will now gear up to make another run in 2025. One area that must be addressed is the pass-rush, which simply didn’t have enough juice last season.
Part of the reason was the injury to Aidan Hutchinson, who played in just five games but still led the team with 7.5 sacks. The Lions have Za’Darius Smith under contract, but it remains unclear if he’ll be cut or kept. Even if Smith returns, the Lions need to add more depth and someone who can be a multi-year starter.
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The problem is that adding quality pass-rushers isn’t easy, as teams aren’t willing to let them go often. However, a new candidate recently hit the trade block that the Lions should have interest in.
That edge rusher is Tennessee Titans former Pro Bowler Harold Landry, who was given permission to seek a trade. In the wake of that, Justin Melo of Titan Sized pegged the Lions as a possible landing spot for Landry.
Landry posted a career year in 2021 with 12 sacks and parlayed that into a massive five-year, $87.5 million contract extension. Since then, Landry suffered a torn ACL in 2022 but then posted 19.5 sacks the past two seasons.
Landry would be a sizeable upgrade for the Lions and a fantastic running mate for Hutchinson. He’s also just 28 years old and has two years remaining on his current deal, so the Lions can depend on him for a few years, at least.
Speaking of that current deal, Landry’s contract might cause some teams to balk at making a trade for him, as the Boston College product is due base salaries of $17.5 million in each of the next two seasons. While he has been effective off the edge, it’s fair to say that Landry hasn’t fully lived up to his contract.
But that could also make it very cheap to acquire him, and the Titans could very well pick up some of Landry’s money in order to get a better return for him.
When it comes to the Lions, they would likely prefer to have the Titans pick up some of that salary and give a little more in a trade. Either way, Landry should definitely be on Detroit’s radar this offseason.
