Aidan Hutchinson’s return from a gruesome leg injury that stopped a Defensive Player of the Year-caliber campaign in its tracks last year has no doubt been the most anticipated re-addition to the Detroit Lions’ defense ahead of 2025, and for good reason. Hutchinson is a rare talent that doesn’t come around all that often. We’ve known that for some time.
But there’s another Lion in the front seven making his way back from injury whose return has flown a bit under the radar, and he was gone for even longer than Hutchinson.
Linebacker Derrick Barnes’ 2024 season was limited to just three games after he suffered torn MCL and PCL ligaments against the Arizona Cardinals after a cut block from tight end Tip Reiman. It was a devastating blow for the former fourth-round pick, who had reportedly made big strides in that year’s training camp and was gearing up for an expanded role in Detroit’s defense.
Barnes set to have a huge role in Lions' defense for 2025
Barnes is perhaps best known for his game-clinching interception against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the playoffs to send Detroit to the 2024 NFC Championship. He started 13 games for Detroit in 2023 and recorded 81 tackles, five tackles for loss, five quarterback hits, one sack and one forced fumble.
Barnes mostly played inside linebacker in 2023, or MIKE, but Detroit had bigger plans for him in 2024 and moved him to the SAM spot. It’s a unique position that requires a ton of versatility, as the SAM is asked to rush the passer on the line of scrimmage, drop into coverage and set the edge against the run.
Barnes was entering a contract year and had the chance to cash in with a strong season. He was impressive in his expanded role to start 2024 and drew high praise at the time from head coach Dan Campbell.
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"(Barnes) is just seeing things so much faster, and so, the mental side of the game has grown so much and physically he really has all the tools," Campbell said the day following Detroit’s season opening win over the Rams in Week 1 of 2024. "I mean, he’s a run-and-hit linebacker that can play on the edge, so he gives us a lot of flexibility and as you could see last night, that flexibility showed up. We kept him on the field and he essentially played like our nickel, and I felt like we made that team one-dimensional."
The injury brought all of that buzz to a crashing halt, and Detroit simply lacked a player with the same skillset after Barnes went down. There aren’t many of them, after all.
The Lions knew that, and showed their belief in Barnes this offseason when they chose to still extend him coming off the injury, signing him to a three-year, $25.5 contract in March.
And with all the concerns about Detroit’s pass rush depth behind Hutchinson, don’t count out Barnes as a factor there. He had shown incredible versatility as a pass rusher, run defender and cover man before getting hurt, and if he can get back to that form, he could become one of the most underrated players not just on Detroit’s defense, but in the entire NFL.
It remains to be seen if Detroit has the same plans for Barnes in 2025 as it did in 2024, especially with the departure of defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. But if his role is to be at all similar under newly-promoted Kelvin Sheppard, there’s a very strong chance that his contract extension will look like a bargain for Brad Holmes by the end of the season.