The Detroit Lions’ general manager, Brad Holmes, had his customary end-of-season press conference on Monday. Holmes began the session with a clear message to the fan base: continue to trust the process that has transformed the organization into a Super Bowl contender in only the third season of the Holmes-Dan Campbell era.
Here are my five key conclusions from his media session:
1. Holmes’ message for fans
Going from a club that won nine games and missed the playoffs in 2022 to a 14-win team that was 30 minutes away from the Super Bowl may be considered a one-time occurrence or a Cinderella story.
Don’t include Holmes among them. His message to the fans on Monday was that this Lions team is here to stay, and a new standard has been established.
“It’s only going to get better,” he explained. “We’ll only grow better. I don’t want anyone to think this was a one-time Cinderella wonderful journey that happened. No, it is real. This is exactly what was meant to happen.
Holmes stated that he is weary of hearing about the 2023 Lions as a “cute story.” Every decision he and Campbell have done has been to maintain what they have established and continue to grow, and he wanted the fan base to understand that. This has always been the strategy to normalize winning in Detroit, and it remains so for the foreseeable future.
2. Intangibles are crucial now.
Campbell discussed last week the young core of the squad being constructed here, and how when it comes to bringing in players, it’s not just about adding the most talented players, but also about making sure the players fit their culture and have the intangibles they seek. Holmes reaffirmed the remark on Monday.
“We have to get past just looking for the most talented player,” Holmes went on to say. “In my opinion, that’s the prerequisite of evaluation.”
He stated that anyone can spot the quickest, strongest, or most skilled player, but he and his staff believe that fitness and intangibles are just as important as talent.
“How do you find the right intangibles in a football player and that’s what’s made us who we are,” that’s what he stated.
“That is what I am saying regarding the 2021 draft class. It was really strategic to select those men with the intangibles. It’s not like, ‘Oh, we’ll take a wide receiver in the fourth round. No, we wanted Amon-Ra St. Brown. He had the intangibles we were searching for to lay the groundwork.”
One of the main intangibles Holmes is looking for is grit, which he says will never change.
3. Don’t be alarmed by the news feed.
Don’t think Holmes hasn’t saved some receipts for what the media said after some of his draft classes, particularly last year’s.
“The next few months is a lot of speculation and opinions and people don’t know what’s going to happen but know every year we have not led them astray,” he went on to say. “Dan and I have been very frank and straightforward with everyone. Look, each move is deliberate. “Every move we make, and every move we do not make, is deliberate.”
He used an excellent statement when he stated that every move he makes is intended to help this squad win in December, not in the March, April, or May news cycles.
He discussed the 2021 NFL Draft and how not many of the picks were welcomed. Three years later, having had a chance to grow, the draft class was rated as one of the best among the 32 teams, with Penei Sewell, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Alim McNeill, Ifeatu Melifonwu, and Derrick Barnes serving as key contributors in an NFC Championship Game run.
4. Draft and Free Agency outlook
Holmes is really enthusiastic about selecting later in the draft. Currently, the Lions own the 29th pick in the first round. That thrill stems not only from the fact that drafting later results in more success, but it also returns him to his scouting roots, where a GM must review film and select the appropriate players.
“Back there, you’re picking football players,” Holmes explained. “We’re always drafting football players; it’s just that when we pick them high, you all criticize us. We’ll continue to pick football players and guys for ourselves, so nothing changes. Will it be different? Yes, things will be different.
Holmes also recognized that a number of their own key players are eligible for contract extensions this offseason, which may leave little room for high-priced external additions in free agency. He also believes it is not essential for this roster right now.
“We’ll keep sticking to this plan,” he went on to say.
The Lions will be strategic about how their financial resources are distributed this summer. Holmes stated that they will be clever and make the proper decisions. They didn’t have many resources in free agency after the 2021 season, so they improved the team. They had resources last season and improved their roster. He performed admirably in both instances.
5. Thoughts about quarterback Jared Goff
Goff is entering the final year of his contract in 2024 and might be one of the players the Lions speak with about a long-term extension this offseason.
Holmes was with Goff in Los Angeles when he initially entered the NFL. As a first-year, full-time starter in 2017, Goff led the Rams to the playoffs. In 2018, in his second season as a full-time starter, he led the Rams to the Super Bowl. Goff lost the Super Bowl, and Holmes has long pondered why his career was characterized by one loss in only his second season as a full-time starter.
“I don’t know what more needs to be said from a leadership or performance standpoint, or what more he needs to do,” Holmes said of Goff’s previous two seasons in Detroit.
Brad Holmes drops the truth bomb on the Lions’ most successful season in decades.
The Detroit Lions’ great 2024 season came to a disappointing conclusion with a loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game, and general manager Brad Holmes spoke about how the team is only going to improve moving into the 2024 offseason.
“What I want to tell our fans is look, it’s only going to get better, okay?” Brad Holmes stated this via Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team. “I don’t want anyone to think that this was a one-time Cinderella, beautiful adventure that happened. No, it is real. Alright? This was precisely what was meant to occur. And I understand this based on history and what has happened in the past. Like, I understand you have a season like this, but it’s easy to feel like this was a one-shot, amazing, lucky, cute narrative that I’m bored of hearing.”
Holmes went on to discuss how he and Dan Campbell intended to create a sustainable winner with the Lions, and how they are designed to compete year after year. Holmes then discussed a previous move by the team, drafting Penei Sewell.
Brad Holmes hits back at the media years after passing on QB to choose Penei Sewell.
Holmes referred to the pick of Penei Sewell, who is currently one of the NFL’s top offensive tackles. Many thought the Lions should have taken a quarterback like Justin Fields or Mac Jones that year, but they passed. In retrospect, that decision clearly paid off, as Jared Goff has proven to be an excellent player for Detroit.
