What are your thoughts on Lions GM Brad Holmes’ free agency strategy?

Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes arrives at Northwest Stadium before the win against the Washington Commanders in Landover, Md. on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025.

| Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images We’re now well over a week into 2026 NFL free agency, and the Detroit Lions’ approach to this stage of roster building has been relatively clear. As usual, Lions general manager Brad Holmes has not been getting into any bidding wars for players, he’s tried to find some additions on good deals, and he hasn’t been very aggressive in finding trade partners to fill needs. He’s been much more tortoise than hare, taking the slow and steady approach.

None of that has been particularly surprising, given that’s how Holmes has operated most free agency periods he’s been here. He’ll potentially go big in one signing—as you could argue he did with center Cade Mays’ three-year, $25 million deal—but he won’t go much beyond that. If there’s one relatively drastic change Holmes made this offseason, it came with his actions on internal free agents.

During his time with Detroit—the first overhaul offseason excluded—Holmes has re-signed nearly a dozen free agents each offseason. This year, that counter is at just four, excluding the lay-up decision to re-sign players on ERFA tenders. Instead, Holmes has focused his efforts on external free agents.