'Get Your Popcorn Ready': How Lions GM Wants Fans to Enjoy Draft

Holmes discusses what Lions won't do in 2025 NFL Draft.
Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes.
Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes. / Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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The NFL draft annually generates the most excitement of any offseason event throughout the league calendar.

Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes has quickly developed a reputation of being one of the league's strongest evaluators of talent and has used the draft to build one of the league's best rosters.

With so much intrigue surrounding the event, there's plenty of analysis surrounding what the Lions and the rest of the league could or should do when it's their turn to make a selection.

However, Holmes wants all parties involved to simply enjoy the draft, which begins with the first-round just one week from Thursday. He likened the excitement of the draft to that of viewing a new movie for the first time.

"When a movie comes out, I don't understand, when you go to see a movie, you've never seen the movie. That's the excitement. So you're fine just watching the movie," Holmes said. "I don't understand why people can't just watch the draft," Holmes continued. "It's like, 'I don't know what's gonna happen.' Watch the draft, get your popcorn ready and enjoy it."

He has traditionally been close to the vest with his plans for the draft throughout his tenure, but he did explain what he will not do during this year's draft. It follows a trend that he's set, as he explained once again that the team will not be drafting based on perceived needs in this year's draft.

Rather than secure a player at a position of need that doesn't fit the team's criteria, Holmes has traditionally been more inclined to add a player that fits the team from both a talent and cultural perspective.

This method has helped them secure several Pro Bowlers and three First Team All-Pro selections in his four years at the helm, and he doesn't see it changing.

Penei Sewell and Amon-Ra St. Brown, two members of his first draft class, have earned back-to-back All-Pro honors while Kerby Joseph, a 2022 third-round pick, received the accolade for the first time last season.

"What I won't do is what I've been saying what I won't do, that I know you guys get frustrated with me not doing," Holmes explained. "And that's looking at a depth chart and seeing a position and saying, 'Hey, you've got to get that position.' But a player has to play that position. We want to get good players."

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Christian Booher
CHRISTIAN BOOHER

Sports journalist who has covered the Detroit Lions the past three NFL seasons. Christian brings expert analysis, insights and an ability to fairly assess how the team is performing in a tough NFC North division.