Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes doesn’t want the 2023 season to be a one-off, setting some big expectations to follow up the team’s trip to the NFC Championship game.
Holmes has set the team’s goal at a Super Bowl win, with the NFL Network’s Jamie Erdahl saying the general manager’s big statement on 2024 has made the Lions the team with the “most riding on this season.”
Erdahl noted that Holmes’s Super Bowl goal is not an uncommon statement to make in August, but one that definitely carries more weight for Detroit. Erdahl wanted that the comments will put pressure on the Lions to follow through this season.
“For Brad Holmes to say it in the offseason I think means something different for Detroit, which is this is not just some one-off magical season where I have this kind of wonky head coach who does up-downs in August and everyone obsesses over it and then in January they played in this magical run and made it to an NFL title game,” Erdahl said.
“Brad Holmes is trying to build something here and by him saying we have a dedicated effort to get back to the Super Bowl, I believe him, I trust him, and frankly I think it puts the Lions on a pathway of having the most riding on them this season because it cannot just be a flash in the pan.”
Brad Holmes Set Bold Goal
The Lions general manager addressed his big goals this week, saying he expects the team to surpass last year’s run to the conference title game.
“For this season? Win the Super Bowl,” he said, via The Associated Press.
The Lions had their best season in a generation in 2023, winning their first division title in 30 years and advancing to the NFC title game for just the second time ever. The team returns much of its core from last season and is once again favorites to win the NFC North.
Holmes said the team has been putting its Super Bowl goal into action over the course of the offseason, staying consistent with the plan to build a team that contends for many years.
“We’ve kept our approach and our process very consistent in terms of how we build it, the opportunities that we provide players, and that’s what gives us confidence,” Holmes said. “We’ve been saying it since Day 1, we want to get better every single year and we’ve done that, and we plan to continue to do that.”
Lions Building Around Jared Goff
Much of the Lions’ rise from NFC doormat to Super Bowl contender started with the trade that landed Jared Goff in 2021. The quarterback has seen a career resurgence in Detroit, throwing for 4,575 yards with 30 touchdowns last season.
Goff earned a $212 million contract extension earlier this offseason, cementing his place in the team’s core.
“He’s the right guy. He’s the leader for us,” Holmes said, via The Associated Press. “He didn’t need a contract to go out there and do what he does on the field, he truly earned that. I have not seen a change in him.”
