The Detroit Lions' 27-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers was defined by Detroit getting completely beaten in the trenches. The Packers were the bigger bully on both sides of the ball, pushing the Lions around and giving Jordan Love plenty of time to dissect the secondary. The franchise doesn't need to overreact to one bad game, but they also can't afford to be complacent when there's an obvious answer available to help address the struggles.
Jadeveon Clowney remains a free agent and is the best (and most versatile) edge defender on the market. The Lions reaching out and giving the veteran a deal as a rotational option makes sense for both sides. Driving this point further home is a report from Colton Pouncy pointing out the Lions only had a total of eight pressures in the game, tied for the third lowest number. Three of these were courtesy of returning pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson.
Why Clowney is the Answer for the Lions' Defense
Clowney racked up 9.5 sacks as recently as 2023, and even his "down year" in 2024 still showed plenty of value. He had 5.5 sacks, and his 73.2 pass-rush grade from PFF ranked 30th among 210 qualifying edge defenders. That he's still a free agent suggests he's being picky about a potential landing spot (or demanding too much money), but the Lions should be a very attractive destination for a veteran who has spent much of his career on losing teams.
Don't let one awful week fool you, Dan Campbell's roster remains incredibly talented with all the needed pieces to get the job done. Offensive line changes and struggles in the trenches simply set up what will prove to be the worst game of the Lions' 2025 season. It would be a shock to see anything resembling Sunday's performance again.
With that said, the Lions would be wise to seek out upgrades and attempt to improve the pass rush. A big piece of this is the fact that Clowney is such an attainable option who doesn't offer the obvious downsides of other remaining free agents. The pass rusher has a career 58.0 sacks and has proven to be a starting option as well as a great rotational piece.
Many of the concerns with the pass rush are going to be erased once Hutchinson gets back up to full speed. Returning to game action for the first time post-injury is a big step that requires a bit of an adjustment. The version of the pass rusher we watched against the Packers isn't close to the peak of his powers.
Still, signing Clowney isn't about doubting this, but making a high-upside gamble, which is something the front office must consider after Sunday's dud. There simply isn't a downside to a move that has the ability to make a struggling unit drastically better while it waits for Hutchinson to settle back in.