The Lions and defensive end Aidan Hutchinson agreed to a four-year, $180 million extension on Wednesday, officially keeping Hutchinson in Detroit for the long-term. The deal makes Hutchinson the second-highest paid player on the Lions behind Jared Goff, and the second-highest paid non-quarterback, only trailing Micah Parsons.

The day after Hutchinson agreed to his new contract, Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard was asked if he thinks he needs to find more breathers for Hutchinson during games.

Sheppard joked in response, “We just gave him half the building, so he needs to play 95% [of the snaps].”

“I want you to come down there and try to tell Hutch to leave the field and I want you to see how those interactions take place,” Sheppard also said, “... He’s a tremendous, tremendous athlete. Superior athlete, and not by God-gifted talent. I’m talking about by hard work and dedication. He’s conditioned his mind, his body to do that.”

Sheppard did acknowledge that since the Lions do plan to play 20–21 games this season, a deep playoff run included, Hutchinson’s playing time is something they do need to be “conscious” of, though he noted, “Why take anything off of him if he’s handling it well?”

So far this season, Hutchinson is playing an average of 92% of the snaps and has recorded 16 tackles, six sacks and four forced fumbles. Over the first three-and-a-half years of his career, he’s tallied a total of 34.5 sacks and forced eight fumbles.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Lions DC Had Funny Line About Aidan Hutchinson’s Massive Extension .

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