Free agency grade: Lions fans exercise patience, deliver pragmatic marks
Detroit Lions fans offered their grades for the team’s 2026 free agency moves.
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - FEBRUARY 25: General manager Brad Holmes of the Detroit Lions speaks to the media during the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center on February 25, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) | Getty Images Earlier this week, we published our latest SB Nation Reacts survey , sponsored by the folks over at FanDuel Sportsbook , asking Detroit Lions fans one question: What grade do you give the Lions for their actions in free agency? For this exercise, we asked Lions fans to assess how the team has performed in free agency by exploring the value of the players added and lost, how general manager Brad Holmes managed salary cap constraints, and whether they did a good job of setting up the team for the NFL Draft.
Once they weighed the execution of those tasks, fans were asked to assign a grade to the overall free-agency process. Let’s take a look at the results: Just over half the fans gave the Lions an “A” or “B” grade, with 87% of the final grades being a “C” or better. Overall, I’d say those are pretty positive results, especially considering the Lions needed to move on from expensive veterans in favor of younger upside dice rolls.
The strategy itself can be risky—even though it’s arguably necessary given the contract extensions expected in the near future—but most fans seem to be giving Holmes the benefit of the doubt, given his five-year track record with the Lions and the clear salary cap restrictions. Let’s take a look at the comment section of our original survey for explanations on why fans voted the way they did (slightly edited for clarity) — though opinions seem to be very wide ranging: CoachingExpert2 : “Not a single significant improvement was made. They are actually worse at LB, and DT… D.
” MoTownSportsFan : “Lateral moves across the board result in a C. ” Defend the Den : “So far, I gave it a B. In a direct one-to-one player comparison, I see 4 upgrades, 3 downgrades, and 6 equivalents.