Is Micah Parsons the best EDGE in the NFC North? How Packers star stacks up vs. Aidan Hutchinson, other rivals

This time yesterday, the NFC North was already considered arguably the toughest division in the entire NFL. After all, three of the four teams in it made the playoffs last year, and the lone absentee, the Chicago Bears, are now bursting at the seams of a potential breakout after hiring Ben Johnson as coach and revamping the roster. It's a loaded group. And it just got more powerful in the last 24 hours, thanks to the blockbuster trade the Green Bay Packers executed for Micah Parsons. 

Overall, this division may be best known for its coaches, with Kevin O'Connell (the reigning Coach of the Year) headlining a group made up of Dan Campbell, Matt LaFleur, and the newbie in Johnson. Or is it the quarterbacks? Jared Goff, Jordan Love, Caleb Williams and J.J. McCarthy are a fascinating collection of signal-callers. What about wide receivers? Justin Jefferson has a claim to be the best wideout in the NFL, and has division brethren like Amon-Ra St. Brown and D.J. Moore, along with up-and-comers like Rome Odunze and Matthew Golden lurking about. 

After this mammoth trade, however, it may be a division most recognized by its pass rushers. With Parsons now injected into the group, the NFC North has the two leading candidates to win Defensive Player of the Year. At FanDuel Sportsbook, Parsons is the favorite at +500, while Detroit's Aidan Hutchinson is right behind him with the second-best odds of +750. 

Below, we're going to take a look at the top edge rushers for each NFC North team and see where they stack up in this new hierarchy. 

5. Montez Sweat, Chicago Bears

Sweat is entering his second full season with the Bears after Chicago traded for him in the middle of the 2023 season. Overall, it was a worthwhile move for the Bears, but Sweat is coming off a somewhat down year in 2024. Over 16 games, he piled up 5.5 sacks compared to his six sacks in the nine games he played for the Bears in 2023 following the trade from Washington. His time to pressure was also the slowest of his career at 2.7 seconds. However, he did register a 14.4% pressure rate, which is the second-highest of his career, and was better than the 13.8% pressure rate he had in that half-season showing in 2023. Sweat is no slouch by any stretch of the imagination and would be much higher regarded in other divisions across the league, but in this loaded group, he's a tier or two below. 

3. Andrew Van Ginkel, Minnesota Vikings

Van Ginkel was part of a tremendous slew of offseason additions for the Vikings in 2024. Upon arrival, he made major splashes, vaulting to Pro Bowl status along with earning a second-team All-Pro nod. All that came after he posted 49 pressures and 11.5 sacks on a 12.6% pressure rate. Alongside Jonathan Greenard (who we'll highlight below), Van Ginkel produced 23.5 sacks, which was the second most for a duo in the NFL last season. They also did so with a heavy workload as defensive coordinator Brian Flores blitzed a league-leading 42% of the time in 2024. And Van Ginkel answered the bell. 

Micah Parsons to Packers: Was trade from Cowboys biggest in NFL history? Here are five that may be bigger

Jeff Kerr

3. Jonathan Greenard, Minnesota Vikings

The 28-year-old maintained his momentum from his rare Year 4 breakout (12.5 sacks) with the Houston Texans in 2023, which he parlayed into a $76 million contract with the Vikings in 2024. During his first season in Minnesota, Greenard put together another 12-sack campaign that led to his first-ever Pro Bowl nod. In Flores' blitz-heavy scheme, Greenard thrived, applying a career-high 80 pressures and a 15.9% pressure rate. Van Ginkel may have been the one to earn an All-Pro nod, but Greenard is the better pure rusher. 

2. Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit Lions

It's close, but Hutchinson comes up a touch short and is no longer the top pass rusher in the division. Still, that doesn't mean the Lions defender isn't elite. He most certainly is and is probably the second-best pass rusher in the NFL. The betting odds reflect that as he's the No. 2 candidate for DPOY. That's how deep this position group has become in the NFC North. 

Had it not been for a season-ending leg injury he suffered in Week 6, it might have been more of a coin flip. Through Week 6 of last season, Hutchinson had 7.5 sacks, 17 quarterback hits, and 45 pressures, all led the NFL. His 25% pressure rate was also the highest percentage among defensive ends with 100 or more rushes last year. For reference, the next-highest defensive end was Myles Garrett, who finished the year with an 18.4% pressure rate. Hutchinson looks to be fully recovered and chomping at the bit to get back onto the field in 2025. If he picks up where he left off, it's not out of the realm of possibility that he snatches the crown back. 

1. Micah Parsons, Green Bay Packers

There's a new top pass rusher in the NFC North, and he's calling Lambeau Field home. After the Packers landed Parsons in the blockbuster trade with the Cowboys, he instantly becomes maybe the most elite defensive player in the division, and could very well swing the balance of power over towards Green Bay. Last year, Parsons put together his fourth-straight double-digit sack campaign to go along with 70 pressures and a 17.7 pressure rate.

Specifically, when staking him against Hutchinson, Parsons has more sacks (30) than the Lions pass rusher (22) over the last two seasons. Of course, you have to factor in that Hutchinson missed more than half of last season due to injury, so we can throw those sack totals aside. However, Parsons does still maintain a slight edge in pressure rate. In the last two seasons, Parsons had a 19.9% pressure rate compared to Hutchinson's 19.2%. Those figures rank them No. 1 and No. 2 in the league over that span. 

So, it's close, but we're giving the edge (pun intended) to Parsons until we see Hutchinson rebound from his season-ending injury. No matter how you slice it, however, this division has two of the best pass rushers in the league.