Brad Holmes met with the media on Thursday to discuss all things regarding the NFL Draft and free agency.
Usually, Holmes keeps most of his thoughts very close to the chest and doesn't want to speak to the media about organizational decisions. Luckily, the local Detroit media did a phenomenal job asking the Lions GM the questions that all Lions fans want answered.
Here's everything Holmes had to say during Thursday's media availability:
Brad says he is open to the idea of trading up or down
Holmes was, of course, vague about what decisions the Lions are going to make in the NFL Draft, but he spoke about why the Lions would be interested in trading up or down. In the past few years, we have seen Holmes and the Lions make aggressive moves in the draft to seek out players such as Jameson Williams and Terrion Arnold.
"When we did the big one with Jameson, that was a little bit more probably pre-planned," said Holmes regarding his previous big draft night trades. "But even the one last year, that was more unexpected. It really depends who's in striking range"
Holmes acknowledged that trading down is also a huge possibility for Detroit. He understands the risk of missing out on a player you may want, but the option is still there.
"Trading back, it's just you know, how many of those players would be available, how much less of a player would you be getting, or will the players be the same?" said Holmes.
The Lions GM said that the state of the roster led to many of the aggressive draft night moves he's made in the past, but the Lions' success doesn't mean he won't be aggressive again.
"We needed everything, so there was much more urgency," Holmes explained when talking about why he's been so active in trading up. "But, I don't think where we are at with the roster now is going to lessen my desire either."
Brad Holmes told the media that he has not received any calls regarding the Lions' first-round draft pick.
Holmes still retains his "best player available" mindset
The Lions have been known to use their high-value draft picks to draft who they believe is the best player on the board in recent years. For example, the Lions still had D'Andre Swift on the roster and had just signed David Montgomery when drafting Jahmyr Gibbs 12th overall in 2023. Still, Holmes does not feel obligated to draft based on need.
"I love need, you guys know me," Holmes said sarcastically when asked about drafting based on need. "I sometimes don't understand the whole need thing, because when each season ends, [the need] is going to be something else."
Throughout his media availability, Holmes hammered down the fact that chasing the previous season's needs isn't always the right draft strategy. He understands the importance of filling roster holes, but you never know whether you are going to lose a player to injury or free agency in the coming years, and preparing for that is important.
"We live in a society that everything is right now, boom right now," said Holmes. "When you start chasing need, well, that need might make sense for right now, but we make these picks for future investments."
The Lions' GM still sees value in drafting developmental players
The argument of "NFL-ready vs developmental projects" is one that GM's around the league deal with every year at the NFL Draft. Holmes has drafted a good mix of those types of players in the past, and doesn't see the Lions' success as a reason to steer away from developmental projects.
"It's got to be the right project, there's a ton of them in every draft," said Holmes. [Giovanni Manu] was one of those guys, Derrick Barnes was developmental when we took him."
Holmes also spoke on his view of this debate when he took over in 2021 and how he compares that to his stance going into the 2025 NFL Draft.
"When we first started in '21, all those young guys had to play," Holmes stated regarding his early career draft picks. "We don't really go into it like we have to get high-floor ready to go, but the ceiling might be a little bit lower. There's no problem taking a developmental guy."
In addition, recently, the Lions had top receiver prospect Matthew Golden in for a pre-draft visit. Many Lions fans were wondering if that means that Jameson Williams could be traded or leave for free agency in the future. Holmes said that he sees value in drafting depth pieces at receiver and cornerback.
"You really can't ever have enough of them," said Holmes. "I always felt like receiver is one of the more [voluminous] positions in each draft. There's probably even veteran free agents available after the draft, but we're very happy with the guys we have."
