Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes held his end-of-season press conference on Thursday afternoon. Holmes was very forthcoming about grading his own performance this season: “The bottom line is if we’re not in the dance and we’re not competing for a championship, it’s a failure.”
Grading Detroit Lions 2025 Season A Failure, Brad Holmes Plans Changes
Stressing that despite not making the playoffs, Holmes is confident that the team is not that far off from being a genuine Super Bowl competitor. “I don’t think that we’re that far off. I personally don’t…We have a lot of good young, ascending players. We have a really good quarterback, and we have the right coach. I do think that we’re very close. “
Holmes, Looking Ahead To Next Season
However, Holmes acknowledged the season forced him to look at his own performance and said changes would be forthcoming. “So, I have to do a better job. Obviously, haven’t been good enough, and look, I’m always going to look inwards. So, early stages but already started to identify some things that I can definitely do better, and we’re going to collectively just have to look at everything from top to bottom… And, really, that’s probably the only light that may come out of this darkness, I would say. When you have these kinds of results, you don’t have a choice. You’re forced to look at everything…to improve our football team and just kind of recalibrate this thing to just play more consistent football.”
Indicating he and Dan Campbell would be looking at everything to determine the best route forward for the team, he reiterated, “So, again, we’ll be looking at everything, but I do not think that this is a deep surgery, overhaul. I don’t think that. But obviously, there needs to be some adjustments made, for sure.”
The Search For the Lions’ Next Offensive Coordinator
One area the Lions are changing is finding a new offensive coordinator. Yesterday, according to a post by Ian Rapoport, the team reached out to former Miami Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel about their vacant offensive coordinator position.
McDaniel is a strong candidate. His familiarity overseeing a successful offense with a dual running back system with rookie De’Von Achane and Raheem Mostert in 2023 would mesh well with Detroit’s run-first scheme. That season, both players achieved over 1,000 yards from scrimmage. While McDaniel will undoubtedly be fielding head coaching opportunities, he might consider taking a step back after a tumultuous season in Miami.
The lure of working with a disciplined, talent-rich, and well-run organization in Detroit might present a welcome change after a fraught season dealing with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s injury history and subsequent benching, as well as off-field issues with wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
Holmes, Perceived Lack of Aggression in Pursuing Outside Talent
One of the issues Holmes addressed on Thursday was his perceived lack of aggression in signing outside talent. He said roster building is a year-round activity that’s not limited to the trade deadline. Just because his pursuit of a player isn’t reported in the media, that doesn’t mean it’s not happening.
“The roster building thing and engaging in talks with teams, that’s year-round. But I totally understand that that’s not public information, and you can only just go off of what’s out there.”
Describing the immense transactional activity involved in vetting a player, Holmes said a lot of work is required to determine why a player is available or why he wasn’t re-signed by his team. Often, teams don’t want to part with a draft position or player. Negotiating a trade during the draft doesn’t become public information unless the trade is agreed upon. “But it’s not a lack of action being taken on our part.”
The Lions’ Priority to Re-sign Drafted Players
Holmes was asked if a priority was given to re-sign players the team has drafted. Early on, he and Campbell agreed they were going to build the roster by drafting and developing their own talent.
“It is a priority because they’re really good players.… They’re really good players, they’re great in the locker room, they represent everything that we’re about.
Holmes Addresses Challenge of Retaining Lions Free Agents
Asked specifically about the Lions’ need for an EDGE opposite Aidan Hutchinson , Holmes acknowledged the draft didn’t play out as planned and the difficulty in retaining EDGE players who will become free agents. “Yeah, I mean it would be the same approach that we took last year in terms of the position wasn’t ignored in the Draft, it just didn’t come together like how we would have liked it to be from a Draft standpoint. But you know, Al-Quadin Muhammad played really well. I’m not sure many other teams had an 11-sack and a 14.5-sack guy. I thought the rush was good, but…he’s a free agent.”
Both Muhammad and EDGE Marcus Davenport are free agents this season. While Davenport’s ongoing injury history is a concern for the team. Muhammad stepped up this season as the perfect complement for Hutchinson, allowing both to elevate their game. Hopefully, Holmes will re-sign him.
Holmes was questioned about recent conversations with Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp . Stating they had spoken but he would keep those private, he concluded the media session stating, “Always the hope is to get to a Super Bowl and win a Super Bowl. That’s not changed going forward this year. “