The Pro Football Writers of America have awarded Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes the Executive of the Year title after an outstanding season. Along with head coach Dan Campbell, Holmes, a well-known alumnus and former football player for North Carolina A&T, joined the team in 2021 as vice president and general manager. Together, they guided the squad to a postseason berth this season. Additionally, since the award’s introduction in 1993, this is the first time it has been won by a Lions executive.
Holmes played for the Rams for a number of years, from 2003 until 2020, before joining the Lions. After joining as a scout, he rose to the position of Director of College Scouting. He was able to attract quality college players to strengthen the Lion’s defence and offence by using his scouting expertise.
His draft selections include linebacker Derrick Barnes (2021), defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson (2022), wide receiver Jameson Williams (2022), defensive lineman Josh Paschal (2022), safety Kerby Joseph (2022), linebacker James Houston (2022), running back Jahmyr Gibbs (2023), linebacker Jack Campbell (2023), tight end Sam LaPorta (2023), and defensive back Brian Branch (2023). These are just a few of the notable players he selected. These athletes have developed into the team’s youthful core and have been crucial to the Lions’ success.
In addition, he brought in valuable experience to the team by acquiring C.J. Gardner-Johnson, a safety who played in the Super Bowl for the Eagles the previous year. In addition, he added important players like Graham Glasgow, David Montgomery, Cam Sutton, and Jalen Reeves-Maybin, who played on the Pro Bowl special team.
ALLEN PARK — The league received mixed reviews for their unconventional hires, Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell, especially after one of them began displaying a taste for kneecaps. The Detroit Lions were a joke once more.
Only minutes after Campbell was announced as a finalist for coach of the year, three years later, Holmes was chosen NFL executive of the year. The Pro Football Writers Association has been awarding the prise since 1993, and Holmes is the first member of the Lions organisation to win.
The recognition is so well-earned that a few [cough] people predicted it would happen a few weeks ago. Holmes took over a club that had been in disarray under the misguided leadership of Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia. It took him just three years to elevate the team from chronic bottom-dwellers to the NFC championship game. With a trip to Super Bowl LII on the line, third-seeded Detroit (14-5) takes on top-seeded San Francisco (14-4) on Sunday.
Perhaps Holmes’s initial move had the greatest impact. The team’s best quarterback of the contemporary age, who was considering a trade, gave him the position. Holmes transformed Matthew Stafford into quarterback Jared Goff, running back Jahmyr Gibbs, receiver Jameson Williams, tight end Sam LaPorta, safety Ifeatu Melifonwu, defensive lineman Josh Paschal, and defensive tackle Broderic Martin. That’s a difficult situation with the highest stakes.
With the last first-round selection obtained from the Stafford trade, Gibbs and LaPorta were acquired this year. After Holmes turned the Lions’ original seventh-overall pick into Picks 12 and 34, the team came under fire for selecting a tight end (who wasn’t Michael Mayer) and running back (who wasn’t Bijan Robinson). In the modern NFL, both selections defy conventional wisdom, especially at running back, where Gibbs became the team’s highest draft selection since Barry Sanders.
