The Detroit Lions' rise to contention has come with an idea they are in a window to win a Super Bowl. The fell short of reaching the Super Bowl when they blew a halftime lead in the NFC Championship Game and ended the 2023 season with a disappointing loss.
After that loss, head coach Dan Campbell plainly acknowledged how that might have been their "only shot" to get to or win a Super Bowl. Campbell later said he feels the team's Super Bowl window is open, but his first comments still stick memorably.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes has consistently dismissed the idea the Lions are in any kind of a "window", or that said window to win a championship is closing in any way, shape or form.
Failing to win a playoff game in 2024 and missing the playoffs completely last season could suggest that NFC Championship Game appearance was the peak of this Lions' run as they are currently constructed. Things aligned so well that year, and have been misaligned just enough since, to make that idea viable.
Brad Holmes remains against the idea the Lions are in a Super Bowl window
At the NFL Combine on Tuesday, Holmes appeared on "The Rich Eisen Show." The host asked him about the narrative the Lions' "window" is closing, and maybe the ceiling was halftime of that NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Holmes' response to Eisen was exactly as expected.
"You know, I would push back on that", Holmes said. "Just because, even with the dilemma we're facing now, is that we have a lot of young, ascending players that are eligible for (contract) extensions."
"Even look back at this past season, I wanna say we had six Pro Bowl players...and we had three All-Pro-caliber players that weren't even available....I think what we've done in the draft, in terms of having these ascending young players, I do think that's given us an opportunity to keep our window open."
READ MORE: Tate Ratledge is still front of mind for Brad Holmes as a future Lions center
Holmes added Jared Goff to the reasons the Lions' championship window remains open. He also said he understands the "situations", in terms of getting as close to the Super Bowl as they did a couple years ago and failing to get that close since. And as Holmes noted, the results of the last two years drive the easy narrative the window is closing.
Then, Holmes dropped a nice punch line.
"The way we operate, we want to avoid windows."
Amid Eisen praising him for that line, Holmes tied his thought up with a nice bow.
"So, we actually do the best that we can to avoid windows."
Trying to avoid a "window" and not actually being in one are two different things. But Holmes' unwavering conviction regarding the Lions not being in a Super Bowl window has to be appreciated.