The Detroit Lions walloped the Dallas Cowboys on the road Sunday, 47-9 , but that's not the major talking point coming out of the Week 6 beatdown.
The Lions ' best defensive player, Aidan Hutchinson, had surgery for a broken tibia and fibula in his left leg after suffering the injury early in the third quarter Sunday on a sack of Dak Prescott. Super Bowl 59 on Feb. 9 in New Orleans is less than four months away, putting Hutchinson's season in jeopardy .
With Hutchinson out indefinitely, how do the Lions — 4-1 and one game behind Minnesota in the NFL's best division — replace his immense void and production from the defensive end position? What might Lions general manager Brad Holmes do to boost his pass rush rotation?
Here's a quick look at who the Lions could call on from their current roster, and a potential robust trade market at edge rusher.
REQUIRED READING: Lions look like Super Bowl favorite vs. Cowboys, but Aidan Hutchinson loss is incalculable
When is the NFL trade deadline 2024?
The 2024 deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 5, one day after Week 9. The Lions play at Minnesota , vs. Tennessee and at Green Bay in the next three weeks leading into the deadline.
Lions internal candidates to replace Aidan Hutchinson
The Lions have already suffered major injuries at the edge position, down Marcus Davenport (triceps) and Derrick Barnes (knee) for the season, and John Cominsky (knee) until late in the season . Here are the Lions' other edge players.
- Josh Paschal: A 2022 second-round pick out of Kentucky who has just three sacks in 27 career games for the Lions. He's 24 years old, 6 feet 3 and 274 pounds and was the starter opposite Hutchinson.
- Isaac Ukwu: A 25-year-old undrafted rookie free agent who had a strong preseason , after spending his seventh and final college season at Ole Miss . Ukwu is 6-3, 265. He was waived despite three sacks in three preseason games , but the team re-signed him to the practice squad, and he made his NFL debut vs. the Cowboys.
- James Houston: A 25-year-old sixth-round pick in 2022 out of Jackson State. Houston, a small pass rush specialist at 6-1, 245, had eight sacks in just seven games as a rookie, but has not made an impact since and was inactive for Sunday's win vs. the Cowboys while Ukwu was active. Houston missed most of last season with a broken leg and has played just 17 defensive snaps in two games this year and in Week 4 was flagged twice for offsides in 14 snaps.
- Levi Onwuzurike: Holmes' second pick as GM in Round 2 in 2021, Onwuzurike was selected by teammates as a breakout player this season . The 26-year-old already has a career-best five QB hits this season and his 1½ sacks are career-high. Onwuzurike is 6-3, 290 and can line up both on the interior and edge. He missed all of 2022 with a back injury.
- Trevor Nowaske: A second-year player from Saginaw Valley State who played some of the snaps at defensive end Sunday after Hutchinson’s injury. Not a true edge rusher at 6-3, 237.
- Mitchell Agude: A "miracle child" after recovering from a skateboard accident as a youngster , Agude, 25, has yet to play a snap this season. He joined the Lions’ practice squad just over a year ago, was waived in August, then re-signed to the practice squad.
TRENDING: Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson to stay overnight in Dallas with 'frightening' leg injury
Lions trade candidates to replace Aidan Hutchinson
Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders
The Eastern Michigan graduate would be a boon for the Lions' defense, but it's a longshot. EMU renamed its football playing surface Crosby Field this summer inside Rynearson Stadium, in honor of Crosby. He is in the second year of a four-year, $94 million contract and has made three straight Pro Bowls . Crosby, 27, has 5½ sacks this season in five games for the Raiders (2-4), after collecting a career-high 14½ last season and 12½ in 2022. He led the NFL in tackles for loss in 2023 with 23 TFL, and in 2022 with 22 TFL.
Crosby, in his sixth season as a fourth-round pick of the Raiders in 2019, shoved Raiders assistant coach Mike Caldwell with two hands to the chest during Sunday's Week 6 loss to Pittsburgh, but tried to downplay the incident afterwards as a "love push, stop reaching."
Haason Reddick, New York Jets
Reddick has been mired in a bizarre contract dispute with the Jets (2-3), and has yet to play a snap after being traded from Philadelphia in the spring for a third-round pick. He has cost himself millions so far, and his agency parted with him after he declined a reworked one-year contract with the Jets. Reddick, 30, has four straight seasons of double-digit sacks , including 11 last season with the Eagles . He made the Pro Bowl the past two seasons, and his three-year, $45 million deal expires after this season.
Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati Bengals
Hendrickson, 29, had 17½ sacks last season and has made three consecutive Pro Bowls. He has had at least 24 QB hits in four straight seasons, and has five sacks in 2024. He requested a trade in April, seeking a long-term contract , and makes $14.8 million in 2024 and $15.8 million in 2025. Cincinnati sees itself as a contender still at 2-4, but if it continues to falter, Hendrickson could be a trade candidate. He was a third-round pick by New Orleans in 2017, spending four seasons there with Saints assistants Dan Campbell and Aaron Glenn, now the Lions' head coach and defensive coordinator, respectively.
Von Miller, Buffalo Bills
The 35-year-old already was forced to take a pay cut by the Bills (3-2) for this season, and he's out through Week 8 on a four-game suspension for violating the league's personal conduct policy . He has three sacks in four games this season. He had zero sacks in 12 appearances last season returning from a torn ACL suffered on 2022 Thanksgiving vs. the Lions. Miller might not be a fit for the Lions after he turned himself into police in November 2023 on an arrest warrant for third-degree felony assault of a pregnant woman. No charges were filed, but a police affidavit said Miller put his hand on the woman's neck, pushed her and pulled out part of her hair during an argument. Miller called allegations "100% false."
- Emmanuel Ogbah, Miami Dolphins : "The 30-year-old has been solid this year, notching a 64.4 PFF run-defense grade and tacking on 10 pressures on only 208 total snaps."
- Deatrich Wise Jr., New England Patriots : "Wise is in almost an identical situation to Ogbah: a veteran, pending free-agent edge rusher on a team that doesn’t appear close to contending in 2024. The 30-year-old has turned in a decent season as a rotational rusher, mustering seven pressures and a 54.8 PFF overall grade." Has 99 pressures over the past three seasons, tied for 42nd.
- Jamin Davis, Washington Commanders : "The former first-round pick has not lived up to the hype as a pro, and his 2024 hasn’t been especially encouraging. A linebacker-turned-edge rusher, Davis possesses only a 65.0 PFF overall grade and hasn’t yet recorded a pressure on only 70 total snaps."
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 7 players Detroit Lions could target at trade deadline to replace Aidan Hutchinson
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