Allen Park — The Detroit Lions didn’t select a safety in the 2026 NFL Draft, but don’t take that information as an indication about the statuses of Kerby Joseph or Brian Branch, one way or the other.
“It wasn’t that we intentionally didn’t draft a safety because we feel good about them (Joseph and Branch). I feel like they’re both trending in the right direction,” Lions GM Brad Holmes said Saturday. “But it (the draft board) just didn’t line up. Just like it hasn’t lined up at other positions in the past. We didn’t ignore it.
“There were some good ones that were out there that just got picked before we were able to. It just didn’t quite line up. I didn’t really think that class was as deep, either, so it had to line up, and you had to strike right.”
Joseph (knee) and Branch (Achilles) combined to miss 15 games in 2025. Joseph had been dealing with a knee issue since training camp and didn’t make an appearance after Week 6. Branch ruptured his Achilles in Detroit’s win over the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 4.
When fielding questions about his knee in December, Joseph was glum, simply saying “my knee’s messed up.” At the combine in February, Lions coach Dan Campbell said it was “tough to say” anything definitive about Joseph’s availability for 2026 without learning more over following weeks. Holmes echoed similar sentiments, saying the team would know more “in, like, another month or so.”
Asked on Saturday a follow-up question specifically about how he feels about the recoveries of Joseph and Branch, Holmes reiterated, “I think they’re both heading in the right direction.”
The Lions have eight safeties under contract for next season, not counting undrafted free agents. Behind Joseph and Branch are returners Thomas Harper, Avonte Maddox, Dan Jackson and Loren Strickland, as well as newcomers Christian Izien Jr. (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and Chuck Clark (Pittsburgh Steelers).
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Lions’ Kerby Joseph, Brian Branch ‘heading in the right direction’
Reporting by Richard Silva, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
