Brad Holmes Reveals Detroit Lions Considered Trading ‘Way Up’ In First Round
Brad Holmes revealed the Lions explored trading up and fielded offers to trade down before landing Blake Miller at No. 17 in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Detroit Lions didn’t just sit back and wait for the board to fall their way Thursday night. They were active. Very active.
After selecting Blake Miller with the No. 17 overall pick , general manager Brad Holmes revealed just how close Detroit came to making a move, both up and down the board. Lions strongly considered trading up Detroit had its eyes locked on Miller well before draft night.
Holmes admitted the team had been tracking the Clemson standout closely for years, with his growth from 2023 to 2024 really standing out during film study. That belief nearly led to an aggressive move up the board. “We did, yeah.
We talked to teams up, way up,” Holmes said. “And we just talked about it and tried to see if we can be at peace with what the capital is that you’d have to expend. But we definitely explored strongly about trading up.