With few big roster holes, the Detroit Lions seem sure to have a targeted approach this offseason. General manager Brad Holmes will have plenty of cap space to operate with, further bolstered by the increase in the salary cap for every team.
With that increase in the salary cap league-wide, no teams overall offseason plans should be changed that dramatically. Speaking to "Costa and Jansen with Heather" on 97.1 The Ticket Monday morning, Holmes hinted that the Lions' plan is not impacted by the bump up in the salary cap.
“When you’re budgeting in advance for free agency—and especially when you’re looking past (your own free agents)—you probably have a good decision on what you want to do internally with your own players in terms of re-signs and extensions and all that kind of stuff,” Holmes said.
Holmes also rejected the notion the Lions are "one player away", with depth being important to get through a season.
“I’m not a big believer in—when you really look deeply into the one player away.. when you look into that narrative, ‘Oh, they’re just one guy away,’ that’s really not realistic. Because what you’re saying is that one player—you might sign that one player in March and that one player looks good in black and white on a depth chart in March and April and all through the summer. What if that one player is not available in October and November and December?”
Did Lions GM Brad Holmes tease a significant offseason move?
Holmes hit all the expected close to the vest notes on Monday morning. But he did shift a little bit away from that, for a brief moment....
“Do you want to externally say, ‘Well, we can get another depth player here on external add’? Or do you want to say, ‘Well, we had these handful of players that we were looking to add from an external standpoint? Now that we have this much more available then maybe we can get a bigger fish?’”
"Does it (the increase in the salary cap) open up a possibility of, you may be able to do something that you did not think you were going to be able to do beforehand?"
Holmes added how he's "always felt more comfortable" filling needs in free agency. The Lions have two or three that could be significant (cornerback, edge rusher, guard), and if there's a fit along those lines maybe a "bigger fish" will be added?
Holmes, at minimum, didn't appear to totally rule out such a move on Monday morning.