Getty Brad Holmes speaking during the 2022 NFL combine.
The Detroit Lions have seemingly turned themselves around, and a big reason for that has been the work of the team’s front office in terms of talent acquisition.
Brad Holmes has received a lot of the credit for the Lions, and with good reason. The general manager has been in charge of making the deals and drafting the players, getting things turned around in the Motor City.
Holmes’ work has been impressive enough to land him very high on a new list ranking all the general managers in football in 2023. NFL.com analyst Gregg Rosenthal look a look at ranking all the bosses 1-32, and Holmes came in safely within the top 10 in the seventh-overall slot.
As Rosenthal said, Holmes will have to prove he can sustain success, but there’s been nothing wrong with his start in the Motor City whatsoever, and it’s been near-flawless from the Detroit perspective.
“General managers sometimes peak in popularity a few years into a major rebuild. The hard part is keeping it going like Brandon Beane in Buffalo, rather than peaking too early like Steve Keim in Arizona, Dave Gettleman in Carolina or Ryan Pace in Chicago. (All Executives of the Year!) Holmes has done virtually no wrong since arriving. He preceded Dan Campbell by a week and pivoted from the Matthew Stafford era with a home run trade that helped quickly build a roster spawning the most unbridled Lions enthusiasm in memory,” he wrote in the piece.
As Rosenthal goes on to point out, the fact that the Lions have lucked into the sixth-overall pick in the draft for Holmes can help cement his status as a top-notch general manager given the talent he can land.
“Getting to use the Rams’ No. 6 overall draft pick feels like a pivot point, the chance to go from fun story to real contender. After two top-shelf drafts and a smart free agency haul that focused on improving the secondary, Holmes has more than earned the benefit of the ever-present doubt in Detroit,” he wrote in the piece.
All of that combined, it looks easy to proclaim that Holmes should be ranked very high against his competition. If the Lions continue to win games, that might help Holmes to creep higher on lists such as this in the future.
Brad Holmes’ Best Moves With Lions
Since taking over, it’s true that Holmes has had a multitude of solid moves to help the Lions out. The way he has run things has been a big benefit for the Lions, who have leaned on his expertise.
Holmes’ first move was to deal Matthew Stafford for Jared Goff and a first-round pick in 2022, a first-round pick in 2023 and a third-round pick in 2022. That deal not only helped the team net Goff, who’s been a resurgent talent posting 7,683 yards and 48 touchdowns with the team, but in the addition of talents like wideout Jameson Williams and safety Kerby Joseph. Those players were selected with both of the 2022 picks.
More than the trades, Holmes’ signings have paid off as well. He hasn’t gotten tied down with many long-term contracts, and has been able to mine gold with underrated players like wideout Kalif Raymond and Josh Reynolds, edge rusher Charles Harris and defensive tackles Isaiah Buggs and John Cominsky. This offseason, he signed bigger names such as cornerback Cameron Sutton and C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
During the draft is when Holmes has really flexed his muscle. The team has added players such as offensive tackle Penei Sewell, wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown, defensive tackle Alim McNeill, linebacker Derrick Barnes, edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, Joseph, tight end James Mitchell, linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez and edge James Houston.
Holmes has balanced things out appropriately between out of the house signings as well as key draft picks. With this work, he seemingly has the Lions poised to start contending quickly and building something that can last.
Brad Holmes’ Career Biography
While general manager Les Snead has received a ton of credit for a lot of what the Rams have done for good reason, it’s possible that Holmes might be one of the engines behind the team’s success.
After working his way up from the ranks in the early 2000’s, Holmes was promoted to the team’s director of college scouting back in 2013. He managed to help the team land elite Pro Bowl talent like Aaron Donald, Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, Cooper Kupp, Pharoh Cooper, and Cory Littleton over that span during the draft.
Los Angeles made a Super Bowl a few years back in 2019 and has been able to sustain that success by the way they have drafted and the players they have found along the way. Holmes wasn’t around when the team finally got over the hump and won Super Bowl 56, but given several players he drafted remained part of the team’s core, his fingerprints were still all over the title.
Given Holmes was the man in charge of adding young talent, that only served to prove his value to the Rams. That means he likely made plenty of recommendations about who the team should draft as well as helped in creating their draft board.
With this in mind, it isn’t a surprise to see the success the Lions have had, and Holmes making his case as one of the best general managers in football all on his own.