The limp is gone. The questions are quiet now. And for the first time since that brutal Week 6 injury against the Cowboys last October, Aidan Hutchinson stood tall—literally and figuratively—behind the podium at Allen Park on Thursday, May 22. But before that, let’s rewind for a second. Hutchinson’s 2024 campaign was over before it started. Only six games in before his season was cut short.

That was the beginning of the end as Detroit’s defense turned into a revolving door of who was healthy enough to play. Dan Campbell called it a “bizarre, freakish year” for injuries—and that’s putting it nicely. Injuries chewed up and spit out the front seven. It wasn’t just the next man up. It was next, next, next. By the playoffs, even backups’ backups ran out of gas.

Now? Hutchinson’s officially back in the fold. “I am fully cleared,” he announced, calm as ever. Just seven months removed from snapping both his fibula and tibia, the Lions’ star edge rusher is back in business. No setbacks. No lingering doubts. Just a clean bill of health and a defense desperate to get back to bite mode.

“I always knew I was gonna be back,” Hutchinson said, as if willing the bone to heal with sheer stubbornness. Rehab videos had fans squinting: was that a limp? Is he favoring that leg? But Hutchinson made it clear: those were just steps in the climb. And he wasn’t bluffing about a potential Super Bowl return last season either. “I guess we’ll never know,” he said, smiling, when asked if he would’ve suited up had Detroit made it to Vegas.

So now it’s 2025, and the pressure is back—but so is the fire. The Lions haven’t done much to shore up their pass rush outside Hutchinson. That means more snaps, more double-teams, and more expectations for the 24-year-old anchor. Can he carry that load? If you ask him, the answer’s already obvious. And for a team that came this close to punching a Super Bowl ticket, his return might be the missing gear they couldn’t quite shift into last January.

For now, one thing’s certain: Dan Campbell has his defensive cornerstone back. And if the Lions plan on making another deep playoff run, No. 97 better be in full beast mode by Week 1.

Best believe Aidan Hutchinson’s going after the record

Before his leg snapped in Week 6, Aidan Hutchinson had 7.5 sacks. That led the entire league. You remember that 4.5-sack beatdown of the Bucs? Yeah, Baker Mayfield probably still wakes up in cold sweats. Hutchinson was flirting with Defensive Player of the Year, and then… thud. His season crumpled with him in Dallas. A broken tibia and fibula. Ugly stuff. But now that he’s cleared? The comeback buzz is real.

You might be wondering, ‘Okay, but is he gonna be the same guy right out the gate?’ Fair. He just got done rehabbing one of the worst injuries a pass rusher can get. But ESPN’s Mike Clay isn’t flinching. He thinks Hutch’s sack parade resumes immediately.

In fact, Clay has Hutchinson leading the entire NFL with 16 sacks in 2025. That’s not just a wild prediction—it’s record-smashing territory. One more sack than that and he’s breaking Robert Porcher’s franchise record of 15 from back in 1999. That record’s been chillin’ longer than most TikTok trends last.

Now, sure, maybe Hutch needs a few games to shake off the rust. That’s normal. You’d expect anyone to feel a bit weird putting all that pressure back on a leg that once buckled. But Hutchinson isn’t just “anyone.” He’s 25, relentless, and borderline obsessed with the craft. “I always knew I was gonna be back,” he said the other day. Sounds like someone planning to ease into anything?

If that sack crown does land on his head? Back up the Brinks truck. A record-breaking year wouldn’t just shake up the Lions’ history books—it’d push Hutchinson into a contract conversation that could redefine the edge rusher market altogether.