Tag: Brad Holmes

Lions flashback: Alex Anzalone, Kalif Raymond signed 3 years ago

3 years ago the Lions first signed Alex Anzalone and Kalif Raymond. They would epitomize the Brad Holmes free agency blueprint

It’s been three years to the day since the Lions added free agents Alex Anzalone and Kalif Raymond into the den. What at the time seemed like minor moves have turned into very shrewd deals for Detroit. They were also early indicators of the type of free agents that this Lions regime, and specifically GM Brad Holmes, are looking to add every year.

Anzalone was one of head coach Dan Campbell and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn’s former players with the New Orleans Saints, so he was not a surprise signing for the new regime in Detroit. Added on a one-year deal worth $1.75 million, the off-ball LB was a calculated gamble on a really good athlete and high football IQ player who had struggled to stay healthy in his career.

Raymond was more under-the-radar. A seldom-used, 5-foot-8 wideout for the Titans, Raymond’s signing did little to excite Lions fans accustomed to splashier additions. He was primarily viewed as the Jamal Agnew replacement as the Lions’ return specialist and gadget-play wideout. Of course, Raymond has proven to be much more than that. Only Amon-Ra St. Brown and Josh Reynolds have caught more passes for Detroit over the last three seasons than Raymond, who has also been a special teams fixture.

Both Anzalone and Raymond have re-signed with Detroit since those first free-agent contracts three years ago. Nothing says Brad Holmes more than that; instead of signing outsiders to lucrative long-term deals, Holmes offers fair-market, short-term deals to make sure a player fits and finds his role with Dan Campbell’s team. Hitting on these two and converting them into longer-term roster staples epitomizes the Holmes-Campbell era in Detroit and the Lions’ rise into a viable Super Bowl contender.

Lions named as fit for Bills WR Stefon Diggs amid trade rumors

Lions named as fit for Bills WR Stefon Diggs amid trade rumors

The Detroit Lions passing attack has developed nicely with Jared Goff and Ben Johnson working together. And the team announced already that Jameson Williams would be a full-time receiver in 2024.

That isn’t enough, though.

Because the team needs as much receiving as they can get, it makes sense for them to make a splash trade.

One possible target continues to make waves on social media: Stefon Diggs of the Buffalo Bills. Diggs is a familiar name to Lions fans from his time with the Minnesota Vikings. In his career against the Lions, Diggs has accounted for 674 yards and three touchdowns on 52 catches.

The idea stems from an article by Pro Football Network. In their argument, they state “Jared Goff is coming off an excellent season and led Detroit to the conference championship for the first time in decades. The Lions should do everything possible to maximize their championship window…”

The championship window is exactly why a trade like this makes sense. The No. 29 overall pick may be the perfect pick to make a trade happen. Diggs is better than any receiver who would be available for them at their pick, and he fits a need.

The Lions have targeted veterans this offseason at every position of need, and Diggs fits that approach.

Prospect often linked to Lions performs well at Pro Day in front of Brad Holmes

2024 NFL draft prospect Kool-Aid McKinstry performs well at Alabama’s Pro Day in front of Lions GM Brad Holmes

On Wednesday was the Alabama Pro Day and at it was the majority of NFL general managers and scouting departments. Brad Holmes was one of them which gave him a front-row seat the Crimson Tide’s best from Nick Saban’s last draft class.

One of the players many teams were excited to see was Kool-Aid McKinstry. The Crimson Tide cornerback was all set to work out at the Scouting Combine, but his medical evaluation stopped that. It was revealed he had a Jones Fracture in his foot, and he would require surgery. He wasn’t expected to be able to perform at the Alabama Pro Day but he defied those odds.

Not only did McKinstry work out at the Pro Day, but he also ran a 40-yard dash with the Jones Fracture in his foot. Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reported that scouts at the event clocked him at 4.47. To have that type of speed with that type of injury in his foot is unheard of.

Kool-Aid McKinstry has been attached to the Lions in recent mock drafts as they now have more options in the draft. They brought in Carlton Davis III and Tarik Robertson but the addition of McKinstry would put the cornerback room over the top.

He is going to have surgery on Friday, per reports. He will recover in time for whichever team drafts him to participate in their training camp. Could it be the Lions?

Lions GM Brad Holmes attends Alabama’s pro day

Lions GM Brad Holmes attends Alabama’s pro day to check out several prominent 2024 NFL draft prospects in person

Lions general manager Brad Holmes doesn’t typically attend many collegiate pro days. However, he made his annual pilgrimage to Tuscaloosa on Wednesday for the Alabama Crimson Tide pro day workouts.

Holmes has been to the Alabama pro day every year. Last year he selected defensive back Brian Branch in the draft after seeing him up close and personal on the Crimson Tide pro day.

Holmes was joined by at least four other GMs and dozens of NFL coaches and scouts. The pro days for USC and Ohio State were also on Wednesday and the Lions were confirmed to have representation at both of those workouts as well, but the head man was in Alabama.

Among the many Crimson Tide prospects who could pique Holmes’ interest in the draft, listed in order of projected draft slot:

EDGE Dallas Turner

OL JC Latham

CB Terrion Arnold

CB Kool-Aid McKinstry

EDGE Chris Braswell

DL Justin Eboigbe

WR Jermaine Burton

K Will Reichard

 

Aaron Donald draft evaluation has deep ties to the Lions front office

The Rams hit on Aaron Donald thanks to evaluation and advocacy by Lions assistant GM Ray Agnew

The wildly off-base scouting report on the now-retired Aaron Donald went viral last week. What was also discussed was how the Los Angeles Rams took a chance on an undersized defensive lineman after a dominant Senior Bowl performance.

The main reason the Rams took the Pittsburgh Panther? One talent evaluator pounded the table for him to be drafted.

That evaluator was Ray Agnew who was with the Rams at the time and would eventually become their Director of Pro Personnel. Agnew decided to move east when his friend and co-worker Brad Holmes would leave the Rams to become the general manager of the Lions. He now serves as Holmes assistant general manager and has helped craft some of the best draft classes in the entire NFL since they joined forces in the Motor City.

Coming off arguably the best draft class of their tenure, the Holmes and Agnew-led front office now hopes to have a strong repeat performance this April. The Lions currently have the 29th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and have seven selections in total.

Carlton Davis: What the Lions are getting in their new CB

Breaking down the scouting report on new Lions CB Carlton Davis with Russell Brown

While the fanbase of the Detroit Lions grew impatient for some type of signing on the first day of the legal tampering period in the NFL, they made a significant splash. However, this splash wasn’t a free agent signing. Instead, this was a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that sent cornerback Carlton Davis to the Lions.

So what are the Lions getting with cornerback Carlton Davis?

For starters, they’re getting a pair of 6th round picks in the 2024 and 2025 NFL Drafts. Brad Holmes did it again 🙂

As for Davis, he’s a long and athletic corner that’s physical. He’ll matchup well with bigger receivers. In addition to that, he’s solid in man coverage. Last season, he allowed a 60% completion percentage, zero touchdowns and a 75.1 passer rating when targeted, per PFF. This earned him a 68.8 PFF grade in man coverage. Last season, nobody played more man coverage snaps than Cam Sutton did for the Lions. On paper, this could bode well for Davis, Sutton and the Lions defense as a whole.

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Additionally, Davis had 9 pass breakups and two interceptions last season. While I’ll need to get into the tape to confirm, he only missed 4 tackles last season as well. Getting a good tackler on the perimeter is important for most teams in the NFL, especially the Lions.

With the Lions being a heavy Cover-1 man defense and a Cover-3 zone defense, it’s important to get another cornerback that can do both. Davis is technically sound in both man and zone coverage. His physicality should be felt when pressing receivers and when playing through the hands of the receiver.

This season, Davis will be playing on the final year of his 3-year contract extension from the 2022 season. He will carry a $14.5 million dollar cap hit. If all goes right with production and health (missed 16 games in three seasons), the Lions could look into giving the 27-year old cornerback a contract extension.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Lions end up selecting a cornerback in the 2024 NFL Draft. I’d have to think this move eliminates selecting one early in the draft but they should still consider one with one of their four picks on day three of the draft. For now, this should be a trade that gets Lions fans excited.

How much cap room the Lions have available to spend in free agency

How much salary cap room do the Detroit Lions have available to spend at the start of free agency?

As free agency kicks off with the legal tampering period ahead of the official start of the new NFL calendar year on Wednesday, March 13th, it’s a good time to look at just how much the Detroit Lions have available to spend. GM Brad Holmes, COO Mike Disner and the Lions front office have assembled a decent war chest to spend in free agency, if they so choose.

The two leading cap room authorities, Over the Cap and Spotrac, have pretty different figures for the Lions as of 11 a.m. on Match 11th.

Over the Cap calculates the Lions to have exactly $45,278,103 in available cap room. Their figure includes recent contracts to returning Lions Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Emmanuel Moseley and Michael Badgley.

Spotrac has the Lions with about $2 million more in cap room, at $47,412,723. Neither site includes Monday’s deal to re-sign RG Graham Glasgow, nor do they appear to include the upcoming rookie wage pool for draft picks. That would drop the figure down to around $36.8 million based on the Lions picking in their current draft slots.

That’s a healthy amount to take to the free agency negotiations. The Lions rank in the top 10 overall in available cap room. This particular Lions regime has been enthusiastic about buying more cap room by adding void years onto bigger contracts. Those shift some of the cap hit to a later time, allowing more immediate flexibility and availability of funds.

It’s also worth noting the report from Justin Rogers of the Detroit News regarding the philosophy Holmes & Co. value in team-building,

Teams aim to leave a buffer for future accounting costs. For example, only the top 51 salaries are included in the cap calculation during the offseason, but once the regular season hits, the full 53-man roster, plus the 16-man practice squad, count. Additionally, teams have to be prepared for injuries and additions, whether via free agency, waivers or trades. Detroit’s organizational preference is to leave between $15-20 million in funds.

That’s not a terribly uncommon strategy; many teams keep an in-season “slush fund” to deal with the inevitable injuries and practice squad transactions, among other things. The $15-20 million Rogers cites would certainly be on the higher end of any NFL team, however.

Let’s work off the $15 million figure for the in-season cushion. That would leave the Lions with around $22 million to spend in free agency. Keep in mind that includes internal re-signings like Glasgow, as well as any potential contract extensions to players like Amon-Ra St. Brown or Jared Goff.

Lions re-sign Graham Glasgow ahead of free agency

Lions re-sign Graham Glasgow ahead of free agency

Graham Glasgow is re-signing with the Detroit Lions on a three-year deal. The report from ESPN stated that the contract is for $20 million. Glasgow was set to hit the open market at noon on March 11 but the Lions and Brad Holmes didn’t let that happen.

Glasgow is coming off another strong season with the Lions after returning to them last season. He was originally drafted by the team in 2016 but left in free agency once before in 2019 when he signed with the Broncos.

The former Michigan Wolverine bet on himself when he signed with Detroit last year on a one-year, $1.25 million dollar deal. He will now head into the 2024 season with an average salary of $6.33 million.

Dan Campbell mentioned after the NFC Championship loss that this team wouldn’t be back because the odds are stacked against them, this signing is the first step to getting back to that stage. Lots of dominos left to fall for the Lions and Brad Holmes but this is a good start to free agency for the team.

Former Lions safety Quandre Diggs cut by Seahawks

Diggs was a popular player in Detroit before being sent away by Matt Patricia

Former Detroit Lions safety Quandre Diggs was released by the Seattle Seahawks on Tuesday. Diggs had been with Seattle since midway through the 2019 season, when he was traded by the Detroit Lions. 

Detroit selected Diggs in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft as a cornerback prospect out of Texas. He would convert to safety after two seasons, and that is where he has found the most success in his career. During his four full seasons in Detroit, he would play in 60 out of 64 games but started in only 35 of them. 

After being traded to Seattle, Diggs saw his ball production rise exponentially. He had a total of 30 combined pass breakups and interceptions with the Lions, but after being traded he would have 50 in 4.5 seasons in Seattle. That type of production attacking the ball and disrupting plays earned him three consecutive Pro Bowl honors before his production fell off last year. 

Could a return to Detroit be in the works for Diggs? Perhaps the team could find a role for him one way or another, maybe as a package-dependent type or as a full-time starter on a one-year deal. He is worth taking a shot on, and his style could fit well with the current staff and team makeup. The secondary is expected to get younger this offseason through the draft, and Diggs could bring the added benefit of veteran leadership.

Mock Draft Monday: Full Lions post-combine edition

Mock Draft Monday: Full Lions post-combine edition from Lions Wire’s Andrew Harbaugh

The NFL Scouting Combine has shaken things up just in time for another Mock Draft Monday.

Every mock draft so far has had some sort of unique twist, this time we kept things simple. After the scouting combine there is so much information to absorb and process. It makes mock drafting difficult enough without any added curveballs.

Now, a simple mock draft means seven rounds for the Detroit Lions. Seven rounds of picks are projected to come from the award-winning front office led by Brad Holmes. Kicking things off in this mock is getting Aidan Hutchison a much-needed duo on the opposite edge…