Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell will gladly allow other teams to handle the uncertainty, headaches and distractions caused by player holdouts and hold-ins.
Asked Thursday how he feels about seeing other teams’ contact disputes, Holmes broke into a big smile.
“We just have to worry about what we have to do,” he told beat writer Justin Rogers of the Detroit Football Network.
Identifying, developing and retaining key players is something the best NFL teams have done well during the salary-cap era. Holmes this offseason completed extensions for wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, quarterback Jared Goff and tackle Penei Sewell.
The latter extension, as a result, may have triggered the league’s most significant current holdout with only a week before the season: San Francisco left tackle Trent Williams. And don’t expect Holmes to waste time hearing about Ja’Marr Chase, Brandon Aiyuk, Haason Reddick or Dak Prescott.
Holmes saved Sheila Ford Hamp millions by getting those contracts done before the players got any closer to free agency. Now, Holmes can turn his attention to negotiations for other cornerstone Lions, like defensive tackle Alim McNeil.
Holmes also proclaimed Thursday – to the surprise of no one who saw his team nearly upset San Francisco in the 2023 NFC Championship Game – his expectations for 2024 are nothing shy of a Super Bowl victory.
The Lions kick off the season Sept. 8 on Sunday Night Football, hosting the Los Angeles Rams, where both Holmes and Goff worked before coming to Detroit.