The season-ending press conference for Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes was originally scheduled for late late last week, but it was postponed. It was re-scheduled for Monday, and boy was it worth the wait.
Holmes did the normal opening acknowledgements of the fans, the players, the coaches, the scouting staff, etc. But he had a percolating frenetic energy about him from the start. It was just a matter of when he reached a boil. And it would prove to not be a bad thing.
Holmes talked about moves that will be made or not made as being "intentional" one way or the other and "everyone one can't play for the Detroit Lions."
Holmes went right in to tally receipts about the 2021 draft class, which was of course his first as Lions' general manager.
"When you look back at those picks, those picks were not welcomed by many in this room,” Holmes said. “Dave (Birkett), you wanted us to pick a quarterback. You didn’t want us to pick Penei Sewell. People didn’t want us to wait until the fourth round to draft a wide receiver (Amon-Ra St. Brown). People didn’t want to wait on a Derrick Barnes to develop.”
Amazing: #Lions GM Brad Holmes cashed some receipts today at his press conference:
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) February 5, 2024
"You wanted us to pick a quarterback, you didn't want us to pick Penei Sewell."
"I know you said that was a miss."
"Everybody? Or you included?"
"I give probably two people credit in this room… pic.twitter.com/gS8LfMcF24
Brad Holmes speaks on the Detroit Lions 2021 draft class 🍿 #OnePride
— Crunch Time with Jeff Iafrate & Booner (@officialctpod) February 5, 2024
🎥 - @Lions pic.twitter.com/M69dpTYevP
Lions GM Brad Holmes brought ample fire to his season-ending press conference
After the NFC Championship Game loss to the 49ers, Lions head coach Dan Campbell immediately acknowledged how hard it would be to get back to that level of postseason success. Holmes had the opposite message on Monday.
"It’s only going to get better, okay. We’re only going to get better,” Holmes said. “I don’t want anybody to think that this was a one-shot, Cinderella magical journey that just happened. No, it’s real. This is exactly what was supposed to happen. I understand that based on history from what’s happened in the past—I understand you have a season like this, it’s easy to feel like this was kind of a one-shot, magical, lucky cute story—which I’m tired of hearing. It was none of that.”
Over what ended up being 39-and-a-half minutes total, including an 11-minute opening statement, Holmes naturally addressed a wide range of topics as the offseason beckons. The entire press conference is worth watching, as Holmes could not hide his confidence in what he's done and where things are going for the Lions.