Brad Holmes took over as general manager of the Detroit Lions in 2021, facing a difficult rebuild from the ashes of the “Quinntricia” era.
Holmes faced an additional challenge: a seasoned quarterback who, naturally, did not want to be a part of another Detroit rebuild. Matthew Stafford was free to choose his location. It happened to be the Los Angeles Rams, where Holmes had worked for years before moving to Detroit.
After not doing much in free agency for two years, which was understandable given where the Lions were, Holmes increased his aggressiveness in 2023, signing Cameron Sutton, David Montgomery, Emmanuel Moseley, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson while bringing back Graham Glasgow and Jalen Reeves-Maybin.
Holmes has stated this summer that his fundamental idea is to fill holes in free agency and acquire players through the draft. We’ll see what that means for free agency this year, but there are a few key requirements to satisfy rather than a long list.
Holmes has made few mistakes in his career as Lions general manager, as seen by the team’s rise from 3-13-1 in Year 1 to the NFC championship game in Year 3. However, these free agent signings were quite awful.
