Mike Valenti: I Fear Brad Holmes Is a Scout, Not a General Manager

Ahead of the start of the National Football League's legal tampering period, team's are already starting to acquire All-Pro talent via trades.

Detroit Lions fans are starting to voice concerns regarding general manager Brad Holmes being far too passive in free agency.

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Rams acquired cornerback Trent McDuffie and sent the Kansas City Chiefs a handful of draft picks, including a 2026 first-round pick (No. 29), a fifth-round pick, a sixth-round pick and a 2027 third-rounder.

According to Sports Illustrated, "The Chiefs will clear $13.6 million off their books. McDuffie was selected by the Chiefs in the first round of the 2022 draft and has turned into one of the team’s most promising young stars over the last four seasons. The two-time Super Bowl champ had three interceptions, 34 passes defended and 246 combined tackles across 56 starts. He’ll be reunited with Rams assistant coach Jimmy Lake, who previously coached McDuffie at the University of Washington."

Among the vocal critics of the Lions' strategy of signing their own free agents early is sports radio host Mike Valenti.

During his latest broadcast on 97.1 The Ticket, the outspoken host revealed he has a growing fear that Holmes is acting more like a scout than a general manager.

"My fear is you didn't hire a GM. You hired a scout. Hear me when I say it, okay. Guys like (Les) Snead are GM's. Think of the difference between a Dave Dombrowski and a Brad Holmes. Dombrowski was not a scout. Didn't care about it and was all-in all the time. Wheeler dealer, Brad Holmes' a scout. That's what his gig was with the Rams. Snead is a GM," said Valenti. "Clearly they have a good system and a good staff in L.A., because they do a good job in the draft. But when it comes time to make presidential level moves, Les Snead does it. DGAF. You didn't hire that. That's my fear."

Detroit has not been as aggressive in making "all-in" moves as other contending teams in the past few years, opting instead to reward many of their own players with lucrative extensions.

Holmes has allocated dollars in free agency to plug holes, but not to the level that clearly sends the message the team is all-in.

"The point is the Roseman's, that's a GM. The Snead's, that's a GM. John Schneider, these guys are all risk takers," Valenti expressed. "Go look at their profiles. That's not radio blather."

It is still undetermined what the Lions are going to spend in free agency, as they have yet to restructure any of contracts of the players on the roster.

Currently, Detroit sits just shy of $4 million over the cap.