Brad Holmes Tired of Lions Being Perceived as 'Cute Story'

Holmes believes 2023 success is sustainable.

The Detroit Lions don't believe their achievements in 2023 were a flash in the pan.

General manager Brad Holmes made it perfectly clear in his end-of-season press conference that fans can expect sustained success. 

The third-year executive was adamant about his feelings toward the perception of Detroit's run to the NFC Championship this season. He issued a passionate message to the fans Monday as part of a lengthy opening statement.

"It's only gonna get better. We're only gonna get better, alright? I don't want anybody to think this was a one-shot, Cinderella, magical journey that just happened. No, it's real," Holmes said. "This is exactly what was supposed to happen. I understand that, based on history, what's happened in the past -- I understand that you have a season like this, it's easy to feel like this was kind of a one-shot, magical, lucky, cute story, which I'm tired of hearing. It was none of that. It's easy to think that, but no."

Holmes and Dan Campbell have been very selective in their methods of adding talent to the roster, emphasizing that not every available player is a fit for the team's culture. 

The general manager reiterated this point by explaining why the Lions' brass is so intentional when it comes to their personnel decisions.

"Every move that me and Dan make, it has been made to sustain what we are building," Holmes explained. "Alright? Every single move we make, and I will say, every single single move we make and every single move we do not make is to sustain what we have been building. It's real. Look, it's all to normalize what we're doing."

Lions GM Brad Holmes Dunks on Media Critics

Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes addresses media  / @John Maakaron, AllLions

The Lions surprised many when they collected two playoff wins for the first time in franchise history. However, those inside the team headquarters at Allen Park didn't share that emotion of shock. 

As has been Holmes' vision for the team, the division championship season was a product of the standard that is being set for the organization. 

With a key offseason looms, the Lions have a supreme sense of optimism as they take the next step toward becoming a Super Bowl contender.

"We love where we're at. This is supposed to be expected, it's the standard. We love the window that we're in, we just got finished with year three," Holmes explained. "We're still building, we'll stick to our plan. We'll continue to put all of our effort in to improve each year, which we've done in my opinion, and we'll just stick to that." 

Notes

Seven Lions players had their contracts expire Monday as a result of the team not signing them to Reserve/Futures contracts: David Blough, Jason Cabinda, Zach Ertz, Mo Ibrahim, Julian Okwara, Max Pircher and Michael Schofield.