Lions GM heads to NFL draft with No. 7 overall pick
Team's No. 7 overall pick in upcoming draft could be moved if right offer comes along
First-time general manager Brad Holmes has shown no hesitancy in making bold moves since taking over the Detroit Lions in January.
Set to run his first NFL draft in less than a week, Holmes won't be shy when it comes to possibility dealing the club's first-round pick, which is No. 7 overall.
“At seven, we do have a cluster of players that we're comfortable with picking,” Holmes said during a media Zoom call on Friday. “At the same time, we will be very prepared and also willing to move in either direction.
“We're still open in those regards, but there are a cluster of players that we would be comfortable with.”
Holmes has not used the term rebuild since taking over the Lions, but he's made moves with an eye to the future. The biggest being the one that sent quarterback Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams for a third-round pick this year and two future first-round picks.
That third-round pick gives Detroit six picks in this year's seven-round draft. The Lions now have two picks in the third round, but no pick in the sixth round or the seventh round. The club's sixth-round pick went to Dallas in the trade for defensive end Everson Griffen, while the seventh-round pick went to Seattle as part of the trade that sent safety Quandre Diggs to the Seahawks in 2019 for a fifth-round pick last year. That seventh-round pick has since been dealt to Cincinnati.
For a club looking more down the road, adding additional picks by trading down would be a more advantageous move for the Lions instead of spending more resources to move up in the draft.
“There have been discussions with other teams,” Holmes said. “I will keep those in house, but there have been discussions.”
What Holmes does know is that he has a commodity with the No. 7 pick overall that has high value for some NFL teams. It's a question of if he feels he can extract enough in a deal to make it worth moving back from a high-end prospect.
“Well, I will say the value, it's of extreme value,” said Holmes, who spent 18 years with the
Rams before being hired by the Lions. “Whenever you're picking in the top 10, obviously it's an extremely valued pick.
“It's very exciting to be looking at this crop of players that would be worthy of selecting. Where I just came from (the Rams), I wasn't really used to picking in the first round that much (let alone) being in the top 10.”
The Rams have not had a firstround pick since 2016 when the club selected quarterback Jared Goff, who came to Detroit as part of the deal for Stafford. As it stands, Los Angeles does not have a first-round pick until 2024 with the Lions holding the club's top pick in 2022 and 2023.
Part of the advantage for Holmes, when it comes to talking trade, is it's hard to pin down exactly what the Lions are looking for in the first round. There are quarterbacks, wide receivers, offensive linemen and a linebacker all available and capable of going at No. 7. Detroit has a need at each of those positions, but would have the chance to fill other holes by moving back.
“Well, a lot of it is you have dialogue with other teams, you have dialogues with other GMS in terms of what your willingness is to move ahead or back within the draft,” Holmes said of trade discussions. “I guess that's probably, and even talking to you guys now, like I'm not sure if that actually plants the For Sale sign on it, but just saying that, although we do have a cluster of players that we'd be comfortable with, we are still willing and open to moving in either direction.”
We're still open in those regards, but there are a cluster of players that we would be comfortable with.