Brad Holmes: Jared Goff Must Continue to 'Prove Himself'

Brad Holmes appeared on the Detroit Lions' flagship radio station, and discussed Jared Goff's future with the team.

With his first season as general manager in the books, Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes is making his rounds as he prepares for the offseason.

On Friday morning, Holmes joined Michael Stone and Jon Jansen, co-hosts of the ‘Stoney and Jansen with Heather’ show on 97.1 The Ticket, for an interview just ahead of next week's Senior Bowl. 

Several topics were touched upon, ranging from free agency and Matthew Stafford, to his review of Trinity Benson's first season in Motown. 

Holmes reiterated the team is currently entering the player acquisition phase of the offseason.

Naturally, one of the topics was the performance of first-year Lions quarterback Jared Goff. 

Acquired last offseason in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for Matthew Stafford, Goff finished the 2021 season with 3,245 passing yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Holmes made no assurances about Goff’s long-term future, but offered his outlook on the quarterback heading into 2022.

“Jared is gonna be just like any other player on our roster, where he’s gonna have to continue to prove himself, which I have faith that he will. I say it again, for the entire organization, Jared, myself, Dan, our rookie class, we all made strides in being part of laying our foundation. It all goes back to being better this year than you were last year. Happy for Jared on how he ended the season. But, just like how our culture is, you’re gonna have to come back and continue to be better and prove it.”

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Patience is key 

Patience has been a virtue within the Lions organization. The team has dealt with numerous losing seasons and starved for a playoff win, and now Holmes and company are the next in line to try and break the sour spell.

In his first season at the helm, Holmes said he learned plenty about patience while running the show.

“You know, really, the biggest thing I learned is patience,” Holmes said. “That’s really, sticking to your plan, believing in your plan. Dan and I are aligned in our vision, our plan. That’s the biggest thing that I learned. When things got murky, when that adversity hit, you’re really pushed to not be patient and kind of deviate from your plan. But, it’s great to have the support from ownership, unwavering support and belief and patience. Just sticking to our plan, and we came out better than that. So, really, heading into year two, and I’ve said it before – we’re kind of entering the player acquisition phase. We’re gonna continue to stick to our plan, because it is a multi-year plan. And, we’re gonna continue to develop our program, where this city can be proud of, and we’re in the process of growth.”

When asked what the main area for offseason improvement is, Holmes took a wide-ranging approach. He wants everyone in the organization to improve, with the hope that the improvements will lead to more wins on Sundays in 2022. 

“I don’t think you can point to any single area,” Holmes said. “Again, I don’t want to sound like a broken record I’m going back to. When you only win three games, you have a lot of areas. I think we can get better everywhere and not even just the players. I think everyone can get better. That process has already started. Whether it’s the roster, myself to be better, which I have full confidence Dan will be better. This entire organization will be better. Our rookie class, how they played, they will be better. There’s a lot of areas that we will improve upon. But, at the end of the day, we’re going to be so much better.”

Evaluating Trinity Benson trade

Holmes made an interesting move following the preseason, trading a 2022 fifth-round pick along with a 2022 conditional seventh-rounder in exchange for Denver Broncos wide receiver Trinity Benson.

Though the addition was somewhat hyped, Benson spent most of his season on the sidelines. He played in just eight games, catching a measly 10 passes for 103 yards.

Looking back on the move, Holmes said the plan for Benson was to develop, with the intention of him playing in the future.

“When we acquired Trinity, we knew that he had a lot of upside, but we knew that he was a developmental player that was raw,” Holmes said. “Knowing that he was young, the intent on Trinity was not 2021. It wasn’t like, if he could contribute, great. If he needed a little bit more time to learn a new system coming in late, then that’s what he’ll do. But, Trinity will be in a position to compete this offseason and going into 2022 for the season. That’s how we view Trinity, he’s a developmental prospect.”