Since the duo of general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell took over in 2021, the Detroit Lions have been trending in the right direction and are now preparing for a season in which they are expected to compete for a Super Bowl.
And this turnaround was welcomed in a recent article by Ben Standig of The Athleticwho asked NFL agents for their opinions on the best and worst-run franchises in the NFL, among other things.
The Lions received a vote for best-run franchise, tying them with the Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons, The Los Angeles Rams And Houston Texans.
The teams that landed before Detroit were the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, The Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens And The Miami Dolphins.
Holmes recently admitted that things have changed in how agents and players view the franchise, and the polls featured in Standig’s article confirm that.
“It’s been different,” Holmes said, according to ESPN’s Eric Woodyard“In the past, I would say for the first couple of years, we did a lot of selling and persuading all the time just to try to get players here. … But now it makes you feel good that you’ve done something and accomplished some good things so that these agents want to send their players here.”
In addition to the love the Lions received for having a well-run franchise, the team also earned a vote for having the best offseason of any NFL team, Holmes was named the best talent evaluator by two agents, and he was named the best general manager by five agents, tying for second in the poll.
“He and his team did a great job of evaluating everything,” one agent said of Holmes. “A lot of his actions were questioned in real time, whether it was making decisions Jared Goffcontract within the framework of the Matthew Stafford “He made a trade, hired Dan Campbell as head coach or drafted a running back in the first 12 picks. No matter the criticism, Holmes stayed the course.”
As if we needed further proof that the Lions are in good hands with Holmes and Campbell going forward.
