Fans of the Detroit Lions expected general manager Brad Holmes to take advantage of the club’s strong 6-2 start to the 2026 campaign by making a move at the Trade Deadline to bolster their roster and increase their chances of bringing an elusive Super Bowl title to the Motor City for the first time.
After all, several of Detroit’s top competitors in the NFC North Division did just that, led by the Chicago Bears acquiring Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, along with the Minnesota Vikings reacquiring QB Kirk Cousins.
While the Lions did make a minor move with the acquisition of veteran safety Andre Cisco from the New York Jets, there were no sizeable moves like many fans wanted, leading to some frustration.
And now, Holmes is directly addressing those fans.
Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes Explains His Trade Deadline Mentality
While fans and multiple insiders were pining for the Lions to make a significant move at the Trade Deadline to bolster the roster and help increase their chances of winning, no such major move was made.
And now, Holmes is defending the team’s decision to remain relatively quiet, explaining that Detroit wasn’t interested in making a move simply for the sake of adding a player.
“We’re very thorough and what we were looking for is, if we were going to add somebody, we would have had to add somebody that’s going to be an upgrade. Like, elevate the room,” Holmes said via Colton Pouncy of The Athletic. “Not somebody that’s, kind of, you got to spend however much capital, potentially pay money for a player that would just — I don’t even know would be in the rotation.”
He also said that while he’s aware of the narrative surrounding the team, there simply wasn’t anything out there he felt worth doing in terms of significant trades.
“I know what the narrative is about our group, but if you include Dorsey that’s been contributing on the outside, I mean we really got five guys that we’re able to just rotate through,” Holmes said. “I think it’s an incredible job by Dan (Campbell) and Shepp (defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard) and Deshea (Townsend), how they’re rotating those guys in. It’s been working. But yeah, we checked in on all of them and it just — there’s really nothing there.”
Lions GM Brad Holmes Explains What Drew Him To Acquire Andre Cisco
Holmes also discussed the acquisition of Andre Cisco from the Jets, saying that it gives the club options in how to utilize their safeties.
“He’s a versatile free safety. He’s good in coverage. He’s smart, instinctive. Really like his athleticism, his range,” Holmes said. “Obviously, knew all about him when he came out of Syracuse in the draft process. I think in our situation, I think a lot of people are viewing him as he’s just a depth backup piece.
But besides his rookie year — I think he started a handful of games his rookie year but played in all of them — he’s been a starter his whole career. He was a starter for the Jets last year. Started four games this year. I thought he played well in those four starts. A guy that we’ve always liked. We value safeties that can do those kind of things that he’s able to do.”
Brad Holmes Has Strong Response to Lions Fans Furious Over Quiet Deadline