The 2025 NFL fifth-year options figures have been set for the 2022 draft class. Here’s what it would cost the Detroit Lions to exercise the option for Aidan Hutchinson and Jameson Williams.
Last week, the NFL announced the official setting of the 2025 salary cap at $279.2 million for each team. With that set, other key figures have been established for the 2025 season. Relevant to the Detroit Lions , the fifth-year option for first-round picks in the 2022 NFL Draft now has official costs.
For the uninitiated, players selected in the first round of any NFL Draft can have an extra year tacked onto their four-year rookie contracts with a standard, fully-guaranteed figure. That cost changes depending on the salary cap, the position the player plays, number of Pro Bowls that player has earned, and snap counts.
This figure is important to the Lions because they have two players they selected in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft: Aidan Hutchinson and Jameson Williams.
And fifth-year option numbers for first-round picks in 2022 NFL Draft — a list that includes Aidan Hutchinson, Derek Stingley Jr., Sauce Gardner, Kyle Hamilton, Tyler Smith, Tyler Lindenbaum and Jermaine Johnson, among others.
Clubs have until May 2 to exercise the option. pic.twitter.com/YLb3jcszlJ
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 28, 2025
Hutchinson, the second overall selection of that draft, would cost the Lions $19,872,000 for the 2026 season should the Lions opt to exercise his fifth-year option. That because Hutchinson has been named to a single Pro Bowl. Detroit is obviously looking to extend Hutchinson beyond just a fifth year on his rookie contract, but it’s unclear where those negotiations currently stand.
As for Williams, his fifth-year option would be just $15,493,000. He did not meet the criteria for Pro Bowls (zero) or playing time, so his option is at the very basic level. Williams, coming off of his first 1,000-yard season, would be a relative bargain in 2026 with a cap figure just under $15.5 million. For reference, that cap hit would place him 15th among all NFL receivers in 2026—wedged between Brandon Aiyuk ($16.2 million) and Allen Lazard ($13.2 million). But of the 14 players above him, 11 have cap hits of $23 million or higher (Tyreek Hill leads the NFL with a $51.9 million cap hit in 2026).
The Lions have until May 1 to decide on the fifth year option for both players.