Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes and the personnel department are now diligently working to review and refine the team's 2025 NFL Draft board.
Former Lions fullback Jason Cabinda took to social media to express that Holmes has been on a stellar run adding top-notch prospects who have aided Detroit turnaround their fortunes.
"As we get closer to this let’s all remember just how scary of a run Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes is on," Cabinda shared on social media. "Has constructed one of the best 2-3 year drafting runs the league has seen and shows no signs of slowing down! Expect him to make some calls to some difference makers come Draft Day!"
Holmes has quickly become one of the most highly regarded general managers in the league due to his performance in the draft. He's helped to bring in players such as Penei Sewell, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Aidan Hutchinson, Jameson Williams, Kerby Joseph, Jahmyr Gibbs and Brian Branch over his first four drafts.
Sewell and St. Brown have both received First-Team All-Pro honors in back-to-back seasons, while Joseph joined them as a First-Team All-Pro in the 2024 season.
Holmes has also displayed loyalty to the players that he's drafted, as several members of his first draft class in 2021 have earned second contracts with the team. Sewell, St. Brown, Levi Onwuzurike, Alim McNeill and Derrick Barnes have all received extensions and will remain with Detroit for the 2025 season.
Similar paydays could be on the horizon this offseason for Hutchinson, Williams and Joseph, who are all extension-eligible as part of the 2022 draft class.
During a recent appearance on Good Morning Football, the now-retired Cabinda gave insight on one of the most viral moments of his Lions tenure. During Dan Campbell's speech that opened the team's season of HBO's 'Hard Knocks,' Cabinda was observed listening intently and emotionally.
Cabinda explained what he was feeling at the time, noting that Campbell's message was resonating deeply with him.
"Football's a really emotional game. The amount of emotion you have to channel in your heart to go to war. We joke and say, 'We play a children's game,' but this game is war," Cabinda said. "Every single time you go out there on Sunday. Just him describing how we were gonna tread water the longest, we were gonna have the most endrance and we were gonna be the last ones standing. It just had me fired up, man. I was just channeling that emotion that I was gonna have on game day."
