Super Bowl window won’t change Detroit Lions draft strategy

By the team’s own admission, the Detroit Lions have Super Bowl aspirations for the 2024 season. However, general manager Brad Holmes told the media this week their 2024 NFL Draft strategy won’t change based on their proximity to being a true contender.

“I don’t really base it off of (Super Bowl) windows really,” Holmes said during his pre-draft press conference on Thursday. “Again, it’s just how much of an impactful player do you want to get.”

Many have wondered if Holmes would take inspiration from his former team, the Los Angeles Rams. Over the past few years when their perceived Super Bowl window was “open,” they get much more aggressive in their process of player acquisition. They’ve traded away high draft assets for veteran players, with the mantra “F them picks” becoming popularized around those parts.

While the Lions haven’t made any similar high-cost player trades, some believe the team’s overall level of talent could lead them to draft with more urgency than normal, whether that means trading up and grabbing a high-impact player who could push them over the top or using a high draft pick to trade for an established NFL starter. But Holmes said that’s a dangerous way to play the draft.

“I just think if we keep improving every single year through doing it in our process, that’s what we’ve been doing and that’s what we’ll continue to do,” Holmes said. “I think when you start getting into that, ‘We’ve got this window, we’ve got this, so we’ve got to pivot,’ that’s when I think you kind of get into a little bit of trouble.”

Of course, it’s lying season for NFL general managers who are trying to throw off their intentions to the public. But there is reason to believe Holmes is being honest when he says they won’t alter their overall philosophy because of their overall talent level. Just look at their history.

When the Lions' roster was far away from a contender, the conventional norm would’ve said Holmes should have accumulated as much draft capital as possible to fill the roster with young talent. However, in his second NFL Draft for the Lions, traded up 20 spots in the first round to grab Jameson Williams. And last year when the Lions entered the offseason as NFC North favorites, he ended up trading down for Pick 6 to Pick 12.

For Holmes, the strategy is so simple it sounds too obvious: just get good players.

That could still mean trading up in the first round. If the resolve is high enough, Holmes openly admittedly they’ll go and get him.

“If it’s the player that we want, we’re just going to go and get them,” Holmes said.

Don’t mistake aggressiveness for desperation or urgency. Holmes has operated this way for three seasons now. He finds guys he likes, and he goes and gets them.

But, of course, there’s always a limit in how much you’ll pay to get the right player. With Pick 29—and only two other picks in the top 150—the Lions may not be willing to spend their scarce resources on a top prospect.

“It’s just how high you’re talking. Is it way high? Is it just a few spots?” Holmes said.

Detroit, as they always do, will prepare for every scenario. That could even mean a trade out of the first round, despite the fact that Detroit is the host city and that would leave plenty of attending Lions fans disappointed.

“We have to do the right thing for the organization,” Holmes said. “If it makes sense and it lines up and it’s the right thing to do, then we have to do the right thing. Say that happens where the fans have been waiting there all night for this pick and we get an offer that we can’t really turn down and makes sense, we’ve got to do the right thing and hopefully, our fans will forgive us.”