Analysts have argued the Detroit Lions need to add another edge rusher to complement star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. Pro Football Focus’ Gordon McGuinness, though, went a different route. He call for the Lions to add another strong pass rusher to the middle of their defensive line this offseason. McGuinness identified Justin Madubuike of the Baltimore Ravens as the right target.
“Edge defender Aidan Hutchinson is already in or near the top tier at his position, but adding an interior pass rusher like Madubuike could take the team’s defense to another level,” McGuinness wrote. “Madubuike is coming off a career year, boasting a 77.7 PFF pass-rushing grade and 64 total pressures — including 31 combined sacks and quarterback hits — on 512 pass-rushing snaps.”
Madubuike made his first Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro during the 2023 season, which was his fourth in Baltimore. He posted a career-high 13 sacks, 12 tackles for loss and 33 quarterback hits.
He also had a career-best 56 combined tackles and 1 forced fumble.
How Justin Madubuike Could Fit With the Detroit Lions
Pairing Hutchinson with another strong edge rusher makes the most sense, but adding Madibuike is an intriguing possibility as well.
The 26-year-old more than doubled his sack production from 5.5 in 2022 to 13 in 2023. While the Lions had 18 defenders record a sack during the 2023 regular season, Detroit had just two players with more than 3 sacks.
Only Hutchinson had more than 5 sacks for the Lions.
Adding Madibuike would potentially give the Lions two dominant pass rushers on the inside of their defensive line. Defensive tackle Alim McNeill was second for Detroit with 5 sacks in 2023. McNeill also had 6 tackles for loss and 10 quarterback hits in 13 games.
PFF ranked Madubuike the sixth-best interior defensive lineman set to be available in free agency this offseason. PFF also projected the 26-year-old to receive a 4-year, $92 million contract. Such a deal would give Madubuike a $23 million average annual salary.
The Lions expect to spend as much money this offseason on their own players as they do on free agents. In a perfect world, the team will sign quarterback Jared Goff, wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and offensive tackle Penei Sewell to extensions before the 2024 season.
But the Lions do have quite a bit of cap space. So even with extensions for those three players, the Lions could make a big splash in free agency.
Detroit has $61.1 million to spend, which gives them the seventh-most cap space in the NFL according to Spotrac.
Could the Lions Add Madubuike & an Edge Rusher?
The Lions may be an edge rusher and/or cornerback away from clinching the franchise’s first trip to the Super Bowl. So, it would make sense for the Lions to address one of those big needs in free agency and the other with the No. 29 overall pick in the first round.
Of course, addressing one of those needs with both free agency and Day 1 of the draft isn’t off the table either. Especially if an edge rusher is the best available prospect when the Lions pick in the first round.
The Lions defensive line is already a decent unit with Hutchinson and McNeill as anchors. Third-year edge rusher James Houston will hopefully be back healthy and return to his rookie form during 2024 too.
But adding Madubuike and a first-round edge rusher such as Penn State’s Chop Robinson could take the Lions defensive line from good to elite overnight.
Besides free agency, trading for an edge rusher is another possibility for the Lions. On January 29, the Bleacher Report NFL scouting department argued for Detroit to acquire Philadelphia Eagles edge rusher Haason Reddick.
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Lions Urged to Pursue 2023 All-Pro to Take Defense to ‘Another Level’