The Detroit Lions didn’t splurge on any difference-makers in free agency this spring, an approach general manager Brad Holmes said is part of the organization’s ongoing effort to “keep our sustainability at a good level.”
Holmes defended his muted approach to free agency in a wide-ranging interview on the Lions Collective podcast Tuesday, March 24.
The Lions, coming off a 9-8 season and their first missed playoff appearance since 2022, signed center Cade Mays to a three-year, $25 million contract at the start of free agency but have otherwise spent the spring adding veterans on one-year deals to bolster their depth.
“We’re not trying to do this one-and-done kind of thing, so you can take two different approaches,” Holmes said. “You can be, ‘Well, let’s not extend these players and then let’s get more expensive free agents.’ Well, are we sure that that’s the right move? Is that going to give us the right amount of sustainability that we’re looking for? So those are the decisions that we’re always weighing.”
The Lions have taken a draft-and-develop approach to build their roster since Holmes and Dan Campbell came aboard as GM and coach, respectively, in 2021.
They’ve rewarded cornerstone draft picks Penei Sewell, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Alim McNeill, Aidan Hutchinson, Jameson Williams and Kerby Joseph with long-term contract extensions, but they have largely stayed out of the top end of free agency.
Holmes indicated budget constraints were a factor in the team’s tepid approach to free agency this year.
Along with Mays, the Lions’ biggest free-agent additions were right tackle Larry Borom and defensive end D.J. Wonnum.
“I don’t want you guys to ever think that, or anybody to ever think that we have a lot of money; that we have it, we don’t want to spend it,” Holmes said. “No, we’re actually spending everything that we have available to us, and so that’s what I wanted to kind of make clear. … And so talk about constraints, we’re trying to get as many players as we can, as many good football players as we can that fit us within the constraints.”
Both Borom and Wonnum signed one-year contracts for low-end starter money, and the Lions weren’t major players in the negotiations to add the top free agents at their biggest positions of need, center (where Tyler Linderbaum got a three-year, $81 million deal), defensive end (Jaelan Phillips’ four years, $120 million) or tackle (Jermaine Eluemunor three years, $39 million).
The Lions released veteran left tackle Taylor Decker and center Graham Glasgow in cost-cutting moves this offseason and did not re-sign edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad in free agency.
Holmes said he considers Borum a potential starter, that Decker “will be missed” but represented “the kind of difficult decisions that had to made” and that the Lions were out of the market to re-sign Muhammad once they added Mays and Borum in free agency.
“Just once we made that decision for the offensive line, we made that commitment, it kind of took us out of some of those other options at edge rusher, including Muhammad,” Holmes said. “And I’m a huge fan of Muhammad. I was so happy for what he did last year. He was another player that had great dialogue with, but just weren’t able to make it happen.”
Other topics Holmes addressed:
On a reported rift between him and Campbell in the roster building process
“I think what I spoke about at the end-of-the-season press conference is that it is a deeper, harder look from top to bottom on everything. And that’s what me and Dan have done in joint alignment, so that would be the only intensity that was probably a little further because you get this eye-opener it’s like, ‘Whoa, hold on now,’ and so let’s just make sure that we’re not overlooking something or there’s not a tweak or adjustment that needs to be done.
“So I would say that that would be the intensity that’s what happening. I don’t know where ethe other stuff came from. But no, if anything it’s me and Dan in total lockstep like we always have been and we’re just kind of looking at everything top to bottom, which we already have done and that we’ll continue to do for sure.”
On potentially signing 2023 draft picks Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell, Sam LaPorta and Brian Branch to long-term extensions
“We’ve had dialogue with their agents, whether it’s either at the combine or wherever, so we’ve had dialogue to make sure that the players aren’t in the dark or in the gray in terms of what to expect. So we just got to keep the dialogue healthy, but we don’t have like pinpoint months it could happen. It could happen before the draft, it could happen after the draft, it could happen over the summer but we have interest in all those players. We would like to keep them all.”
On the Lions’ plans at left tackle
Holmes said he has not had any dialogue with Decker about a possible return and acknowledged that Sewell could move to the position.
On Decker asking for his release after initially indicating he would return in 2026
Holmes said he was neither disappointed nor surprised by the decision.
“He’s been a really good player for our franchise for a really long time, so he’s going to be missed. I know the fans are going to miss him, the locker room’s going to miss him but unfortunately those are the kind of difficult decisions that had to be made at times. But we wish him nothing but the best. I know that he was a favorite, always has been and just wish him the best of luck going forward.”
On the David Montgomery trade
Holmes said the Lions were able to extract as much value as they did – a fourth-round pick this year, a seventh-round pick in 2027 and guard Juice Scruggs – because there were “multiple teams” interested in the running back.
“Me and David’s agent, we all had – and David – we all had really healthy dialogue. And so we just kind of thought it was best for all parties. It was right after the end of the season that like, let’s just see if we can get the proper return, cause I told his agent, I was like, ‘Look, this guy’s a good player, man. We’re not just giving him away.’ So we were happy with the return that we got. I’m happy for David. I think he’s in a good spot, but that’s going to be not only a loss of just the player but he was such an impact on our locker room, from a leadership standpoint, our culture, but it was all healthy dialogue. There was never any bad blood or anything, and I think it worked out well for both parties.”
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lions mild NFL free agency a result of financial ‘constraints’
Reporting by Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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