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Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes did not like the feeling of sitting at home when the NFL playoffs were taking place.
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The team had been an upward trajectory, but failed to qualify for the 2025 NFL playoffs after qualifying the previous two years.
Appearing on “Good Morning Football” this week, Detroit’s sixth-year general manager shared what he felt, when asked about the state of the team.
“Yeah we feel, we knew we had a lot of work to do. You know, both from a roster standpoint, just as some internal things that you know. We were determined. That’s a bad taste in your mouth. When you feel like you’re trending in, you’re heading in the right direction, although we never got to where we really wanted to get to. But, we got close, but to not be in it, that was a bad taste,” said Holmes. “So, we’re like, okay look, let’s make sure that we’re not just being, you know, the definition of insanity, and keep doing the same thing over and over again.”
Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes @gmfbpic.twitter.com/tXKBarCtoS
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The team made adjustments to the offeason schedule, cancelled rookie minicamp and made the decision to not run joint practices this season.
In the draft, the seven selections certainly addressed several areas of need. In looking at the players chosen, Holmes and the personnel department may have veered just ever so slightly away from the best player available mantra that was discussed pre-draft.
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“So, we took a long, hard look at a lot of things,” said Holmes. “We made some tweaks and adjustments, but we really felt good about the things that we’re able to do from a roster standpoint through free agency and the draft. And look, no one has a crystal ball, but I will say that this is probably the deepest that we’ve been, probably on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
“We were able to get younger on the offensive line,” Holmes commented further. “We got a lot of good depth in the secondary and on the defense as a whole. So, with what we already had established on offense, we feel really, really good about where we’re at right now.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/lions/onsi as Brad Holmes Gives ‘State of Detroit Lions’ During Interview.
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This story was originally published May 7, 2026 at 8:34 AM.