Detroit Lions Mailbag: How big of a problem is losing front office employees?

Although Detroit Lions Organized Team Activities (OTAs) begin later this week, we’re starting to dip into the doldrums of the offseason. So we’re bringing back the written mailbag. This week, we took questions from Twitter/X, and there were a ton of great ones.

So consider this Part 1 of our Detroit Lions mailbag.

Let’s get it going:

Let me first preface this with I do not have any inside information in this instance. Obviously, we’ve all heard by now that the Lions hit on all of their free agency Plan As, according to general manager Brad Holmes. Personally, I’m inclined to believe him, since he also admitted in the same breath that Josh Reynolds was part of that plan, and they didn’t end up landing him.

In this case, I think the Lions’ interest in Christian Wilkins was real, but it has not been their style to spend that kind of money on a single, external free agent. So I think their interest probably didn’t last all that long. DJ Reader seems like much more their style: a mid-sized, short-length contract for a player they’re likely getting a discount on because of injury.

I understand the timeline may look like after Wilkins went to the Raiders the Lions “settled” for Reader, but remember that Wilkins agreed to terms during the tampering period when no meetings with the players are allowed. Detroit almost certainly wanted to meet with Reader in person to get a physical evaluation of where he was in rehab. Reader, himself, said he wanted to take visits before deciding—as many veterans of his age do. So Detroit had to wait until at least that Wednesday to get him into the building, and they made sure he didn’t leave without a contract.

As for Carlton Davis, he’s such a good fit for what the Lions are trying to do—have physical, press-man cornerbacks—that I think that trade was one of the highest priorities of the offseason.

Good question. In many cases—particularly in the first round—general managers have a framework in place. Brad Holmes talked about this when the team traded up with the Minnesota Vikings to grab Jameson Williams.

“It actually started before tonight,” Holmes said on draft night. “Again, you never know if a trade can be pulled off or not because when you’re trying to find a trade partner, there’s often contention about, ‘We’re seeing if this guy—’ especially if you’re trading up higher. It just happened to align and work out. I do think it was a win-win for both.”

But it doesn’t always work that way. I think this video of Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort does a good job of showing how chaotic it can be when trying to make a trade. You may think a war room is pretty quiet when a team is not on the clock, but sometimes general managers are working the phone like crazy.

In fact, Holmes talked about how on Day 2, they were seeking a trade up, but just couldn’t find a partner that Friday.

As for telling the trade partner who you’re drafting, some general managers ask, but there is no formality to tell teams what you’re going to do. Based on what I know, I would estimate the majority of general managers do not reveal who they’re going to pick.

There are rules in place that prevent me from distributing the Lions’ media schedule, but I can—more generically—let you know that the media gets one day of access per week of OTAs (which begin this week). However, we get access for all three days of mandatory minicamp (June 4-6). If you need a reminder of the entire OTA schedule, check it out here.

As for the kind of coverage, we get access to the entirety of practice (much like training camp). So we’ll give you full observations of the day. Because the practice is closed to the public, there are certain limitations on what we can report, especially when it comes to trick plays. One thing of note this year: the Lions are being a little protective of the new kickoff rules, so we’re prohibited from offering specific details on strategies and where players are playing.

Losing front office members will certainly be a new issue to deal with. Because in some cases—like with Lance Newmark—you’re not just losing a key member, you’re talking about an employee who was here for nearly three decades.

That said, the positive outlook of continually losing front office employees is that other aspiring talent now views Detroit as a pipeline of opportunity. And we know this regime has an eye for talent. They plucked Brandon Sosna from USC just two years ago, and they just added two high-regarded members of their scouting department.

As for any rumors of poorly paid coaches, I find that very hard to believe. Dan Campbell has said over and over again that owner Sheila Hamp gives the team everything they could possibly need. They also gave Ben Johnson a raise to keep him last year, and they’ve already handed Campbell and Brad Holmes raises just three years in.

The Lions will try to keep you if you’re valuable, but they also won’t stand in the way of career advancement. So don’t misread any of these front office “losses” as people the Lions could no longer afford. They’re letting them advance their career, which is the right thing to do—and could even benefit the Lions in the long term.

My sense is that teams will now value stronger players over faster ones. With players only starting 5 yards apart, the key to successful kick returns and kick coverage will be the players who can block or shed blocks the best. So, if I had to guess, teams will rely heavier on tight ends and linebackers and less on receivers and defensive backs. That said, those defensive backs will still have jobs on special teams, as their athleticism is still needed for gunners on punt returns.

Additionally, when it comes to returners, long-speed is less important with a shorter window before reaching defenders. Instead, teams should prioritize players with high acceleration and decent vision. So I wouldn’t be surprised to see more running backs given the shot at a return over receivers.

I look at it a little differently. Let’s combine the production of Jameson Williams and Josh Reynolds last year. Combined, they had 64 catches, 962 yards, 7 touchdowns.

Now, do you think Jameson Williams and Donovan Peoples-Jones can match that production together? I would certainly think so. If not, Williams has not lived up to his draft billing.

Of course, it’s not just a matter of production matching. Can Jameson Williams or Donovan Peoples-Jones take on the same role? That, to me, is the bigger question. Reynolds did so much of his damage on in-breaking routes, and that’s not something we saw much from Williams at any point over the last two years. I’m a little higher on Peoples-Jones than most (he had 839 yards in 2022 with Jacoby Brissett throwing to him in most games!), and think he’s capable of doing some of the things Reynolds did.

But am I super confident they can just swap roles like that? Not really. Williams still has a lot to prove, and while he flashed improvement toward the end of last year, it’s not like he was a week-to-week threat. Sure, he scored two touchdowns in the NFC Championship game, but in the other two playoff games combined, he caught four passes for 54 yards. He has just one game where he’s caught at least five passes.

There’s a lot of work to be done, but with a full offseason for both Peoples-Jones and Williams, a lot of progress can be made.

The schedule didn’t make much of a difference to me. I think I’m at about a 7-out-of-10 confidence level in the Lions going back-to-back on NFC North titles.

All signs point to this offense continuing to be elite, and with enough additions on the defensive side of the ball, it’s reasonable to expect them to be a near-average team there—if not better. To me, the only question is how much have the Green Bay Packers improved. Because—we may not want to admit this—but they were playing just as well as the Lions were down the stretch of 2023. They obviously beat Detroit on Thanksgiving, finished the regular season with a 6-2 stretch, absolutely destroyed the Cowboys in the postseason, and came just as close to upsetting the 49ers as the Lions did.

From Week 8 and beyond, the Packers had the third-best offense by EPA (Lions were fifth), Jordan Love had the fourth-highest passer rating (108.2), and they managed all of that while having one of the youngest rosters in the NFL.

That said, they’ll have to reimagine themselves a bit without Aaron Jones, and also losing key offensive line pieces in David Bakhtiari (who didn’t play most of 2023) and Jon Runyan Jr. Still, I think they are going to be neck-and-neck with Detroit in 2024.