Brad Holmes is raising Detroit Lions' expectations, not diminishing them. It's refreshing.

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Brad Holmes is raising Detroit Lions' expectations, not diminishing them. It's refreshing.

Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press · Detroit Free Press

Wed, Feb 7, 2024 ·

6 min read

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Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes oozed well-earned confidence and bravado.

"It's only going to get better, OK?" Holmes said at his season-ending news conference Monday . "I don't want anybody to think that this was a one-shot, Cinderella, magical journey that just happened. No, it's real. This is exactly what was supposed to happen."

After the Lions finished their best season in decades — claiming their first NFC North title, winning two playoff games, and getting within a painful, haunting, horrible 30 minutes of going to the Super Bowl — Holmes is embracing success, not acting afraid of it.

He is raising expectations, not diminishing them.

Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes shows appreciation for fans as he walks onto the field ahead of the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023.

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And it's refreshing.

"It's all to normalize what we're doing, alright?" he said. "We love where we're at. This was to be expected. It's the standard. We love the window that we're in. We just got finished with Year 3. We're still building. We'll stick to our plan. We'll continue to put all of our effort in to improve each year, which we've done in my opinion."

Normalize? None of this is normal for Lions fans. They didn't know how to act during a run through the playoffs — it was all so new to them.

And that means this will be an entirely different offseason as well.

In the old days, the draft was the Super Bowl for Lions fans. It was the high point of the season, a moment to get supercharged with hope. Which, of course, quickly evaporated when the games began.

But now?

It's entirely different.

The Super Bowl is the goal, which means this offseason will feel entirely different as well.

But Holmes cautioned fans not to freak out over some of his upcoming moves.

"Don't get spooked this spring by speculation or negative talk or the entertainment news feed," he said. "I just hope that — they know that every year we have not led them astray. Dan and myself, we've been very upfront and straight with everybody."

Basically, Holmes was giving a clear message to fans that can be boiled down to this: Don't freak out if we do something unconventional, just trust us and judge us next January.

Because Holmes has some massive decisions coming up.

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Detroit Lions president and CEO Rod Wood, left, and general manager Brad Holmes at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas before the game vs. the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023.

Holmes has proved that he knows how to tear a team down the studs, build it back through the draft, work with the coaching staff to get players they can develop and get all the pieces to work together.

Now, comes the tricky part: Turning a very good team into a champion and sustaining success over a number of years.

There is no single way to do it.

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Sometimes it requires making a stunning move and acquiring talent to fill a hole. But other times, it's declining to pay somebody and trading talent.

Think about this year's Super Bowl.

The San Francisco 49ers got to the Super Bowl, in part, by making a bold move and bolstering their offense, trading four draft picks to the Carolina Panthers for Christian McCaffrey, and the results have been undeniable. McCaffrey added a dynamic dimension to the San Francisco offense, helping both the running game and play-action pass game; and the 49ers, as Lions fans know all too well, are playing in the Super Bowl.

Now, look at Kansas City.

Credit: Annie Rice/Avalanche-Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK

The Chiefs did the opposite. Unable to come to terms on a contract with six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Tyreek Hill , the Chiefs traded him to the Miami Dolphins for five draft picks.

And now, Kansas City is back in the Super Bowl.

So there's no firm way a team has to be built.

Of course, it helps when you have Patrick Mahomes .

Huge lesson there: When you have a quarterback, you hold onto him.

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Tons of massive decisions to make

Holmes is entering a critical period of time. The Lions have several players who are due extensions, like Jared Goff (extend him now!), Amon-Ra St. Brown , Alim McNeill and even Penei Sewell (although he has a fifth-year option).

Should he extend Goff? Heck yes.

How about everybody else?

Oh, boy. It's gonna be tricky.

Lions quarterback Jared Goff talks to center Frank Ragnow before a snap against 49ers during the first half of the NFC championship game at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024.

The Lions have a strong offensive line, but there's no guarantee that Frank Ragnow will be back. Taylor Decker is entering his final year, and both guards, Jonah Jackson and Graham Glasgow , are headed for unrestricted free agency.

So, it's going to be hard to bring back everybody for the long term.

But when in doubt, the Lions must do everything to keep that line together.

Here's my bold prediction: Holmes is going to do something this offseason that has everybody freaking out.

If nothing else, this front office and coaching staff is incredibly transparent, and Holmes basically telegraphed it on Monday when he said, "Every move is intentional. … over the next few months, every move that we make, it's to win in December. It's not to win March, April, and May, which it's easy to do."

Detroit Lions first-round draft pick Jahmyr Gibbs from Alabama talks with reporters during the players' introductory news conference at team headquarters in Allen Park on Friday, April 28, 2023.

Maybe, it happens in the draft — OK, that's cheating on my part. Of course, he's going to make a draft pick that has everybody freaking out ; and if Holmes' history is any indication, everything will work out just fine.

Or maybe, it's not extending a high-profile player, declining to give out a massive contract and relying on the draft and development to make up the difference.

That wouldn't surprise me at all — OK, it would surprise me if he doesn't extend Goff or Sewell, but everybody else? Nothing would surprise me.

Holmes has never been one to follow a usual script.

His goals are pretty simple: Get football players who love the game. Keep adding talent and the rest will take care of itself.

"My job is to have a foot in the present and a foot in the future at all times," he said. "And that's what I pride myself on doing. And so, regardless of how sunny or dark things are midpoint in the season, or late in the season, or in a playoff run, I'm always looking for this is what we need to do right now, but this is what we also have to do in the future. And that really doesn't really change, really."

Detroit Lions chief operating officer Mike Disner, general manager Brad Holmes and coach Dan Campbell watch drills during rookie minicamp Saturday, May 13, 2023 in Allen Park.

I disagree. One big thing has changed.

If Holmes makes the right moves over the next few months — by making smart contract decisions, finding more talent in the draft, being creative and manipulating the salary cap to set up long-term sustained success, holding onto as much talent as possible while not handcuffing future decisions — the draft will no longer be the Lions' Super Bowl.

Simply put, if Holmes has another great offseason, the real thing ... let me take this slowly to let it sink in ... the real Super Bowl will become a real possibility.

And, yes, it's going to take a while for that to feel normal.

Lions fans: Celebrate a renaissance 2023 season with a new book from the Free Press .

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com . Follow him @seideljeff .

To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel .

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Brad Holmes raising expectations for Detroit Lions. It's refreshing.

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