If only someone had seen this coming. Impactful injuries to safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch are one thing, but the Detroit Lions took cornerback Terrion Arnold at his word about a troubling off-field situation and got burned.
Even if Arnold had not charged with eight felonies and subsequently released, there were a bunch of half-measures this offseason to add to a secondary that perpetually needs help. No offense to Roger McCreary, Christian Izien, Rock-Ya Sin, Chuck Clark, etc., since those kind of moves pre-date their arrival, but two games into the season it's been proven to not be nearly good enough.
The Lions reacted to their secondary issues by having multiple defensive backs in for a workout on Monday, along with reported interest in former Indianapolis Colts cornerback Kenny Moore. They will reportedly sign one of the workout participants, Jalen Mills, to the practice squad.
If Mills' name sounds familiar, that's because the 32-year old played three games for the Lions late last season as part of the "Legion of Whoom." While familiarity is fine in certain senses, he's not even a true outside addition in the typical sense.
Brad Holmes is destined to keep living up to his hypothetical LinkedIn profile headline
At every turn, including fairly recently when Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press dared to press him on the easy idea more should've been done to add to the cornerback depth chart, Holmes carries a "how dare you question me?" vibe.
Previously, questions about failing to find an adequate edge rusher to pair with Aidan Hutchinson were met the same way. Two games into this season, that remains an issue. And the one time a move was made to add a significant edge rusher, the trade for Za'Darius Smith after Hutchinson suffered a broken leg in 2024, Holmes late lamented how arduous the process was.
If being a general manager was supposed to be easy all the time, Holmes wouldn't be paid what he is. He can only live on his 2021-2023 draft record for so long, and that time should be slowly but surely evaporating.
If Holmes had a LinkedIn profile, and maybe he does (I have no desire to look, and neither should you), somewhere on it would be this philosophy when it comes to building out a roster beyond players he drafted.
"Minimal moves equal minimal results"
That's a joke, of course, but it also has a strong grain of truth. Home run free agent signings like David Montgomery have been few and far between. In fact it's hard to find another free agent signing by Holmes who has worked out nearly as well as Montgomery. In many cases, for one reason or another, they've been abject failures.
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Holmes would probably justify his lack of assertiveness when it comes to adding outside talent by saying it's risky to invest in players who are either already in, or nearing the end, of their peak years. There's something to that, in general, but it also lands as part of the excuse he makes. Other general managers of contending teams don't make the same excuse.
With Holmes leading the way, the Lions will almost certainly continue to sit on their hands when it comes to addressing needs with players from outside the organization. The issues with the secondary were possible to see coming before two weeks into the season, and the response has been what it is.
Signing Mills is just the most recent half-measure to fix a problem Holmes would like to wish away. If it can even be called a half-measure to add a 32-year old defensive back who has played 16 games over the two seasons before this one.
That's not meant as a knock on Mills, who can and should take whatever opportunity he sees fit to play football. But the par for the course Holmes maintains when it comes to these type of circumstances for the Lions should not be considered good enough by anyone, even if he thinks it's just fine.
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