The Detroit Lions spent the majority of the 2024 season as the favorites to win Super Bowl LIX, but a rash of injuries on defense ultimately flat-lined one of the NFL’s best-constructured rosters.
The team that actually won the Super Bowl — the Philadelphia Eagles — did it behind one of the most dominant defensive performances in league history, and Alex Kay of Bleacher Report believes the Lions could take a page from Philly’s book as they look to reload for another run in 2025.
Kay predicts the Lions will sign Eagles star Milton Williams, one of the top defensive tackles scheduled to hit free agency. Here was his take on Detroit prying one of the league’s rising interior pass rushers away from the defending Super Bowl champs:
It’s hard to imagine the Eagles finding a way to meet Williams’ market value, which could rise to as high as $15 million per year. While he’s been important to their success, he’s a bit of a luxury for a team that has more pressing holes to fill and extensions to dole out in wake of lifting the Lombardi Trophy.
The Detroit Lions would be an ideal landing place for Williams. Not only would he reinforce a defensive line that cratered last season after a string of injuries, but he’d be in an ideal position to dominate and contend for more Super Bowls by working next to an elite edge defender in Aiden Hutchinson.
Projected Contract: Four years, $50 million
The Lions have already invested heavy capital in their defensive line, including Alim McNeill, who was drafted literally the pick before Williams in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Detroit inked McNeill to a four-year, $97 million extension back in October, which should give you a sense for Williams’ market value. Kay projects $12.5 million per year for Williams, but the 25-year-old could easily fetch closer to $20 million in AAV on the open market.
It’s fair to question whether the Lions would want to invest that kind of capital in another defensive tackle, especially with superstar EDGE Aidan Hutchinson due for a record-setting extension in short order. Detroit could have a cheaper internal option in one of their own free agents: Levi Onwuzurike, who Spotrac projects will receive around $4.5 million per year on his next deal.
The Eagles are in a tough spot, as two other pillars of their defense — EDGE Josh Sweat and linebacker Zack Baun — are up for new contracts as well. The Eagles already rank near the top of the NFL in real cash spending for 2025, so salary cap aside, it’s highly unlikely that owner Jeffrey Lurie approves the kind of guaranteed money it would take to bring back everyone.
Philly is expected to make concessions somewhere, likely with an eye on landing a 2026 compensatory pick, and with the capable Moro Ojomo and Thomas Booker the IV in reserve, the assumption here is that Williams walks and cashes in bigger than most expect as a free agent.
If not a return to Philly, the Lions would make sense as a landing spot, as Detroit’s Super Bowl window isn’t closing anytime soon.
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