Lions General Manager Brad Holmes has cemented himself as one of the best in the league. After the 2024 season, Holmes became the fourth GM to be named Sporting News NFL Executive of the Year in back-to-back seasons. In 2025, he could become the only GM in NFL history to receive the award three years in a row. The potential achievement is even more impressive given his humble beginnings.
Coming out of college, Holmes wanted to make a career out of his greatest passion, football. However, he wasn’t good enough to play professionally and struggled to garner interest as a potential scout or assistant. So he moved back home to Florida and worked at an Enterprise Rent-A-Car, washing and renting cars for a living. Eventually, he got hired as a Media Trainee with the Atlanta Hawks (NBA), and kept working for Enterprise part-time.
In 2003, the St. Louis Rams hired him as a Public Relations Intern before converting him to a full-time employee in the player personnel department. He wore multiple hats in that department, including area and combine scout. In 2013 he was promoted to director of college scouting and played an integral role in bringing in Rams greats Aaron Donald and Todd Gurley.
The Lions hired Holmes ahead of the 2021 season and he quickly put his stamp on the franchise. Just 17 days after being hired, the team announced they were trading star quarterback Matthew Stafford to the Rams in exchange for QB Jared Goff and multiple draft picks. It was the most monumental trade the Lions had made since dealing Bobby Layne to the Steelers in 1958.
In his first NFL draft as a GM, Holmes put together one of the best classes in Lions history. He drafted two All-Pros in tackle Penei Sewell and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, and several key contributors in defensive linemen Alim McNeil and Levi Owunzurike, linebacker Derrick Barnes, and safety Ifeatu Melifonwu. All of these players went on to earn second contracts—except for Melifonwu, who likely would have if not for injuries.
In 2022, Holmes had another great class. He drafted two 2024 Defensive Player of the Year contenders—edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson and S Kerby Joseph. He drafted key rotational players—DL Josh Paschal and LB Malcolm Rodriguez. If WR Jameson Williams continues to build on his 2024 breakout, this class could be even better than the 2021 class.
In 2023, Holmes drafted running back Jahmyr Gibbs, LB Jack Campbell, tight end Sam LaPorta, and defensive back Brian Branch with his first four picks. Many analysts gave the Lions poor grades for the draft class because they supposedly reached for players of low positional value—they couldn’t have been more wrong.
LaPorta broke the TE rookie record for receptions in a season and Gibbs has the second-best odds to win Offensive Player of the Year in 2025. Branch is already considered one of the best DBs in the league, and Campbell broke out—finishing as one of the highest-graded LBs in the 2024 season.
Thanks to exceptional draft classes, the Lions have one of the most talented rosters in the NFL—four Lions went in the first round of this NFL redraft. Keeping a team with this much talent together is difficult, but Holmes has managed to do so thus far. A big reason for this is the way that he handles contract extensions.
Nearly every offseason, the bar for the highest-paid player at each position is raised. Holmes doesn’t wait for the bar to be set, instead, he provides early contract extensions. A great example of this is when he extended St. Brown a full year before his rookie contract expired. This momentarily made him the highest-paid WR in the league—now, he is just sixth. This time next year, he will likely be outside of the top 10.
Sporting News Executive of the Year is the most prestigious honor among GMs, and Holmes won it in 2023 and 2024. He is only the fourth GM in NFL history to be named in back-to-back seasons—Bobby Beathard (Washington, 1982-1983), Brian Polian (Panthers, 1995-1996), and Scott Pioli (Patriots, 2003-2004) were the only others to accomplish this. All three have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as contributors—an umbrella category for non-players and non-coaches.
If Holmes is named in 2025, he will be the first GM in NFL history to win it in three consecutive years. He is off to a good start with some great offseason moves, including extending Barnes and Owunzurike, bringing in free agent DB D.J. Reed, and resigning WR Tim Patrick.
For Holmes to accomplish this, he will need another strong showing in the upcoming 2025 NFL draft. He’ll also have to get an Aidan Hutchinson contract extension done, optimally before the end of this offseason. Lastly, the Lions need an even better season than their previous two—making or winning the Super Bowl is a must.
Lions GM Brad Holmes is one of the best in the league—winning the Sporting News Executive of the Year award two years in a row. Another strong year in 2025, and he will make history.
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