Eight big takeaways from Lions GM Brad Holmes presser at NFL league meetings
West Palm Beach, Fla. — Situated between the start of free agency and the draft, the NFL’s annual league meetings provide an opportunity for team decision-makers to provide insight into the moves that have been made and what’s to come.
Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes shed light Monday on the team’s offseason to this point, which, outside the signing of cornerback DJ Reed and a few other depth pieces, has largely been focused on bringing the band back together following a 15-2 season.
Here are eight notes from Holmes’ availability with local media.
▶ To begin the session, Holmes expressed satisfaction with how the offseason has gone thus far, defining a successful offseason as “staying the course of what we’ve done so far.”
“I’m more than happy with how free agency went. I say more than happy because we were able to get guys that we really wanted to get. … Like, we don’t compromise and get a prospect that we’re warm on, so, happy with that,” Holmes said. “But more than happy because we actually were able to do more than what I thought we were gonna be able to do heading into it.”
Holmes said he didn’t anticipate being “big spenders” but felt it was important to maintain the talent at cornerback following Carlton Davis III's departure. He was happy to get Reed at a slight discount ($16 million annually) compared to the paydays for Davis and others at $18 million.
“That corner market was expensive. The get-in-the-door entry price was $16 million. If you would have told me that we would have been able to get a corner for that much with the defensive linemen that we were able to get and getting (wide receiver Tim Patrick) back and all that, I wouldn’t have thought we were going to be able to do that.”
In reference to why the Lions haven’t made many splashes this offseason outside of Reed, Holmes said balancing the budget is a bit like balancing personal finances.
“You have financial responsibilities. You have a mortgage or your kid’s college fund, your 529 (program); you have insurance you have to have to pay. You know you have to pay those things, but that might require that you can’t take the vacation you really want right now that summer. So that’s kind of where we’re at right now,” Holmes said.
▶ It’s a foregone conclusion that Detroit will pick up the fifth-year option of superstar defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. Conversations about his future with the team mainly revolve around whether he’ll become the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.
Holmes commented on the defensive end market, which saw the ceiling rise substantially over the last month following extensions for Myles Garrett ($40 million annually), Maxx Crosby ($35.5 million) and Danielle Hunter ($35.6 million), and how the new deals could impact Hutchinson.
“It is what it is. We had it in that range, kind of already, when we do our future planning and budgeting. But then, obviously, when it goes up, it just goes up. That’s just what you’ve got to prepare for, Holmes said. “I don’t know what it will end up being. That’s the difficult part about our job, but we work really hard in terms of the prediction forecasting of that market.”
Hutchinson is recovering from a severe leg injury (broken tibia and fibula) that ended his 2024 season in Week 6. Holmes said he’s seen nothing but positive signs from Hutchinson’s recovery and believes he’ll return to form in 2025.
“I mean, look, we don’t have a crystal ball or anything; we’re just gonna see where it’s at,” Holme said. “But I’ve seen enough movement and mobility on running in this stage that I feel very confident about where he’s gonna be at.”
▶ As for the fifth-year option of wide receiver Jameson Williams, Holmes said, “It’s heading that way.”
”Most likely gonna be doing that,” Holmes said. “Look, he was a tremendous player for us last year. He’s still scratching the surface. I do think he’s got more in him as well. So I just think it just makes sense for us to do what we can to keep him around.”
The 2022 draft class, which includes Hutchinson, Williams and All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph, among others, became eligible to sign their second contracts at the start of the new league year.
The Lions have already invested $30 million annually in wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, which could make a big payday for Williams a bit hard to stomach. Add in some off-the-field struggles, and an extension for Williams is far less certain than Hutchinson or Joseph. Holmes made it clear they want to get Joseph, who leads the league in interceptions (17) over the last three seasons, on a second contract in Detroit.
“Bottom line is, say, like, it’s Kerby — he’s a player we want to keep and we’ve let that be known,” Holmes said. “He’s a fit for us, for our team. He’s a really good player, but in terms of the timing, we’ll just kind of see where it goes.”
▶ Holmes remains committed to the idea that the team Detroit had last season is good enough to win a Super Bowl — barring another historic run of injuries — and said his moves this offseason signal that belief.
“Look, we won 15 games with those guys, so it wasn’t that, ‘Oh, we just want to bring the guys back,’” Holmes said.
Still, he acknowledged it’s not as “exciting” from a fan standpoint to more or less stand pat.
“A bill is coming,” Holmes said. “What you spend this year is going to impact next year; even impacts 2027. So, that’s the discipline we have to adhere to … and if I was a fan, as much as I love our fans, I’d be the same way. Like, ‘Hey, splash. Get guys. Spend the money. Let’s go.’ But I just wanted to make sure the fans understand that we’re being disciplined in our approach because we’re trying to win now and also sustain what we want to do.”
▶ The Lions added a quarterback to their roster by signing Kyle Allen early in free agency, which some took as a sign that Hendon Hooker’s progression has not been up to snuff.
Holmes acknowledged it’s been a long journey for Hooker, who essentially redshirted during his 2023 rookie season while recovering from a torn ACL, but said the team still believes in his long-term outlook. Hooker’s first NFL action came during the 2024 season, where he was limited because of a concussion.
“I mean, it’s just competition. That’s all it is,” Holmes said of Allen’s signing. “We like Hendon, we’re excited about him. … We brought in Teddy Bridgewater (last season) just because we were gearing up for the playoffs … and (Hooker) just wasn’t ready yet, you know? And he understood that. But still got high hopes for him, but nobody’s gonna be given a job either. So if Hendon wants to be the No. 2 quarterback, then win the No. 2 quarterback job.”
▶ Just as the Lions don’t want to automatically give Hooker a job, Holmes said he doesn’t simply want to pencil in Christian Mahogany, a sixth-round pick in 2024, as an automatic starter at one of the team’s open guard spots.
Mahogany missed all of his rookie training camp with mono but was immediately elevated to the top interior reserve and started two games, including Detroit’s playoff loss to Washington. The Lions re-signed Kayode Awosika, the top guard reserve in 2023, last week, and Holmes hinted that they might not be done adding to the position.
“Look, it’s a small sample size of the starts that (Mahogany) played. They were promising, they were encouraging. We do feel like he has starter-level ability, but he is still a young player, so we still need to be sure that he has competition,” Holmes said. “And it’s part of — we bring (Awosika) back and we’ll still be looking at possibly another veteran to add, and you still have the draft … you just never know when we’re going to be able to get one of those guys.”
▶ Holmes said he was “literally almost doing a backflip” over being able to get back defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike on a one-year deal worth just $3.5 million in guaranteed money. Onwuzurike enjoyed a breakout season (47 pressures, three sacks) in 2024 but didn’t get the payday that came with it like some of the available defensive linemen around the league.
“I did not think we were going to be able to get a player of his caliber back,” Holmes said.
▶ Cornerback Ennis Rakestraw, a second-round pick in 2024, was one of the more impressive players during last year’s training camp. He was actually supposed to start at nickel cornerback in Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but suffered a hamstring injury in warmups that would go on to derail his entire season.
Holmes said his desire to be a player in the cornerback market was “not anything against Rakestraw” but more just respect for the unknown.
“We’re still excited about Rakestraw, but unfortunately, he had injuries and he wasn’t healthy enough to provide us a little bit more clarity in terms of where he was gonna be (in Year 2), so, I didn’t think it was going to be rational for us to depend on him,” Holmes said. “But I know how Rakestraw’s wired, and this is going to fuel him to be ready and compete.”
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Eight big takeaways from Lions GM Brad Holmes presser at NFL league meetings
