Brad Holmes: No Intriguing or Interesting Calls About Trading Pick

Holmes explains draft night trade philosophy.

Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The NFL Draft is just one week away, and the Detroit Lions are looking to add pieces that will help them clear the final hurdle towards their pursuit of a Super Bowl.

General manager Brad Holmes has traditionally been willing to make moves on draft night, as he's made trades in the first round of three of his first four drafts.

Holding the 28th overall pick in the 2025 draft, Holmes said he currently has not received any intriguing or interesting calls for teams looking to make deals for the team's current selection.

"No, have not," Holmes said when asked by Lions OnSI.

The general manager moved up in last year's draft to select Terrion Arnold, trading with the Dallas Cowboys to select the Alabama cornerback. The year prior, he traded back from the sixth overall pick to select Jahmyr Gibbs at No. 12 overall.

Holmes said he would be willing to make a move on draft night and is open to it as long as the team feels good about the players that could be available if they were to trade back.

"Absolutely. If the compensation is right and it's reasonable and it makes sense," Holmes said. "And if we have a pool of players that we relatively have in the same bucket, then yeah, absolutely that could be an option."

In addition to Holmes' moves in the last two drafts, he also made a big move up the board in 2022, trading up 20 spots to select Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams in the first round after already securing Aidan Hutchinson earlier in that draft.

Holmes dove into his philosophy regarding trade situations, explaining that he doesn't always feel a need to trade up. He and his staff have players grouped together, and if there is a reasonable amount of players in the same group who could be available at a later pick, then the team will be open to a deal.

"I think it's kind of based on just what the overall — let's call it what the talent level is and how high the talent level is in each draft," Holmes said. "And it's also relative to where we're picking. I don't really go into it like, 'I've got to trade up, I've got to trade up, I've got to trade up.' But trading back, it's just how many of those players would be available, and how much less of a player would you be getting? Or, the players are gonna be the same and the more rational thing would be to get more assets. But it's case by case."

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