While fans clamor for accountability, here are 5 topics I'd like to hear Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes address this week
Allen Park — Through his first four seasons, Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes pushed all the right buttons — landing a bevy of studs in the draft, hitting on enough free agents, and making a few key trades — transforming the franchise from a laughing stock into a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
Holmes’ success spawned memes, such as “Let Brad Cook,” or an edited picture of the GM with glowing red eyes, leaning into the “villain” image he and the team sought to cultivate around his tendency to buck positional value narratives in the draft.
After the Lions won their first division title and playoff game in three decades, reaching the doorstep of the Super Bowl before a second-half collapse in the NFC Championship, Holmes went on a receipt-cashing spree at his year-end press conference.
At the time, many fans loved his swagger. Two years later, following an unceremonious exit in last year’s postseason and missing the dance altogether in 2025, that moment, paired with some of Holmes’ snarky responses to a relentless bombardment of questions about the team’s edge-rushing situation, his perceived lack of humility is being weaponized against him.
As Holmes prepares to meet with the media for his standard, season-ending press conference — the first of his tenure where the team took a legitimate step back — I asked fans what they hoped to hear from the roster builder.
The overwhelming response is that they want to hear accountability, in direct contrast with the brash tone from two years ago.
Obviously, no one wants to hear excuses, but it’s challenging to imagine Holmes will be able to stem the tide of public opinion through contrition alone. More meaningful will be the general manager’s actions, because the only thing that will reverse the swelling negativity is getting the Lions back on a Super Bowl track.
If history holds true, and I have no reason to believe it won’t in this regard, Holmes is going to avoid specifics. He’s not going to talk about what he plans to target in free agency, the draft, re-signings or extension conversations. But he can add insight into why certain position groups fell short of expectations and potential goals, or philosophical shifts that he might deploy to foster a rebound in 2026.
Regardless, before we head into the much-anticipated media session, here are a handful of topics where I hope to walk away with better insight into Holmes’ thinking.
Withered garden
The offense’s identity has long been rooted in its dominant offensive line. That obviously took a significant step back this season between personnel turnover and injuries.
Last offseason, Holmes talked about the importance of watering the garden. And, to an extent, he did, trading up a few spots in the second-round to select guard Tate Ratledge, then moving up again on Day 3 to snag Miles Frazier, who was viewed as a value pick, relative to where he ranked on their board.
Ratledge delivered on expectations as a Day 1 starter who steadily improved throughout his rookie campaign. Frazier, meanwhile, suffered a knee injury in May and was unavailable until late in the season. He logged fewer than 50 offensive snaps.
However, those additions didn’t offset the losses of Kevin Zeitler in free agency and Frank Ragnow to retirement.
Ragnow stepping away arguably had the biggest ripple effect of the offseason, even more so than the departure of both coordinators. What we’ve been told is that the Lions were aware from the start that the All-Pro was weighing the decision, but I’d like to know more about how seriously the Lions considered the actual outcome, and whether Holmes felt he could have been more proactive in securing an answer from Ragnow before free agency and the draft, giving the GM a better opportunity to address the need.