Burning Question: Will GM Brad Holmes 'F Them Picks' in 2025?

Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes and many front office personnel staffers across the sporting landscape tend to avoid discussing timelines and windows of when their teams will compete for championships.

After his fourth season at the helm, Holmes and the Lions' coaching staff have positioned themselves to be in the conversation yearly as Super Bowl contenders.

Yet, a stunning loss to the Washington Commanders at home can only be viewed as a slight setback for a team that earned the No. 1 seed and won the NFC North division title for a second-consecutive season.

Heading into the offseason, Holmes must again balance adding veteran talent in free agency to help the team win now and developing young talent added through the draft.

“It’s a fair question. It’s probably relative of what you would say, ‘Is there a window? Is there a window that you need to stay in?’ I think we’ve done a good job of doing the best we can to avoid windows. I understand that contracts come up when contracts come up. Stuff happens, but we feel so good about our young core and our young nucleus," said Holmes. "We feel really good about our quarterback, and how he’s playing and him having, let’s call it, an MVP-caliber season this year."

With an offense that executed at a high level and young players developing on defense, the Lions feel they are poised to again win a significant amount of games and make another playoff push in 2025.

Holmes noted, "I just think all the pieces are in place that I don’t feel walls closing in, or a window, and again, we kind of make an effort to avoid those kind of things.”

More: Lions GM Brad Holmes Feels Team 'Very Close' to Winning Super Bowl

Detroit Lions Executive Vice President & General Manager Brad Holmes speaks to the press after 2024 season | Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

'F them picks' strategy

The approach of unloading draft picks for proven players is one many teams utilize when the time is believed to be right to take calculated risks to win a Super Bowl.

Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead made a remark, 'F them picks — we'll use them to win more Super Bowls,' after his team won it all in the 2021 season. His approach, which involved dealing draft picks in exchange for veteran talent, helped his team hoist the Lombardi Trophy that year.

While the Lions have yet to do that under Holmes, the construction of their roster has forced pundits and fans to ponder whether or not the time may be right for the general manager to begin moving picks in exchange for talent that can help the Lions be best positioned for a Super Bowl run.

Holmes has prioritized building the roster through the draft since arriving in Detroit. While he noted there are benefits to dealing for veterans, he anticipates sticking to his current approach with a focus on growing through the draft.

“I think we’ve done that in the past, whether it’s free agency or, we had to trade for a veteran pass rusher and spend draft capital for that player. So we’re not scared of that, it has to be the right player. You can’t look at it in kind of a transactional mindset and say, ‘We’ve to get this veteran player.’ If it’s the right veteran player that can help us, then we have no problem doing it if it’s gonna help our football team," said Holmes. "We’ve always said we’re gonna build through the draft. I think that’s why we’re in the position that we’re in from a ‘window’ standpoint of having the comfort to keep building like we have been.”