Brad Holmes and the Detroit Lions have been staring down the barrel of a difficult dilemma.

Under Holmes’ leadership, the Lions have become one of the premier franchises across the league at identifying, drafting, and developing elite homegrown talent.

Last season, 13 of the Lions’ starters on offense or defense were originally drafted by Detroit, heralded by former first-round picks Aidan Hutchinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, Jameson Williams, Taylor Decker, Penei Sewell, Terrion Arnold, and Jack Campbell.

Drafting well, as well as the Lions do, is both a blessing and a curse.

Hitting on so many early-round picks, not to mention finding extreme values such as Amon-Ra St. Brown in the fourth round, and Alim McNeil in the third round, consistently keeps the talent pipeline flowing for a coaching staff that has excelled in maximizing the potential of young players.

However, it can also get expensive quite quickly, and a significant portion of the Lions’ cap space must be allocated to signing their stars to long-term extensions. Likewise, difficult decisions are forced upon Holmes, such as shipping running back David Montgomery off to the Houston Texans, which limits the ability to shop at the top of the free agent market to plug holes or upgrade positions of need.

This was one of those offseasons where the Lions lacked the capital to compete at the top of the market for an elite edge rusher to pair opposite Hutchinson, and some key contributors such as Alex Anzalone, DJ Reader and depth wide receiver Kalif Raymond either walked out the door, or were released, such as Taylor Decker — to create $11.6 million in spending flexibility, with the hopes of having the capital on hand to extend the young, ascending core players who have grown up in the Lions’ program.

The unfortunate reality for the Lions is that over the past three years, the Chicago Bears have been just as successful on draft night as Detroit has, and now, thanks to head coach Ben Johnson’s influence have the talent on the field to create some distance from Detroit in the NFC North.

Will the minor moves around the edges made this offseason propel the Lions back into the conversation within the division, is the stage set for continued bites at the Super Bowl apple over the long-term time horizon?

Here’s an in-depth look at the Lions’ offseason.

None of the moves that the Lions made this offseason belong on the marquee of the Fox Theater.

Now that that’s out of the way, there is value in Holmes and the Lions doing some bargain shopping and betting on upside at a couple of positions that both became major question marks in recent years, and as a more affordable complement — in Pacheco’s case, to Gibbs’ emerging difference-making starpower.

Wonnum, 28, showed over the past two seasons in Carolina that he has significant upside in an expanded role, after producing 42 total tackles with three sacks, one fumble recovery, and one interception in 688 snaps last season. The Lions appear to be banking on his 29 pressures and two batted passes last year giving him a chance to contribute meaningful snaps in a revamped rotation of rushers opposite Hutchinson.

Meanwhile, after Frank Ragnow's sudden retirement forced significant turmoil along the interior … including playing rookie Tate Ratledge out of position, signing Mays this offseason offers consistency from the chaos.

Mays, 27, arrives in Detroit after garnering a stellar 69.4 pass blocking grade from Pro Football Focus for a 2025 campaign in which he didn’t allow a sack while surrendering only three hurries. Fully healthy from an ankle injury that sidelined him for three weeks in 2025, the Lions are hoping he can stabilize an offensive line in need of it.

Finally, signing Pacheco telegraphs that Gibbs will become an even more significant piece of the puzzle for the Lions’ offense, but provides some big-game experience combined with the versatility of a back who has caught 88 passes out of the backfield in his career and forced 13 missed tackles last season.

If you’re looking for the clearest indicator of the Lions’ fiscal responsibility playing an expanded role in their roster-building philosophy, look no further than the backfield. By landing Pacheco on a $1.81 million deal, Holmes effectively replaced David Montgomery’s 'RB1' salary with a high-octane bargain backup ... with upside.

These moves may not be needle-movers, but they each fill a need and buttress a roster whose sturdy foundation is the young players the franchise excels at infusing it with during the draft each spring.

Cost cutting, and restraint, seemed to be the driving forces behind the decisions Holmes and the Lions made this offseason.

Trading Montgomery to the Texans will likely be the move longest remembered in Detroit, especially if Gibbs’ ascent is stunted without having such a bruising change of pace complement eating up just over 187 carries per year alongside him in the backfield.

However, if Juice Scruggs, acquired in the deal, steals a starting job and if Derrick Moore, who Detroit chose after flipping the fourth-round pick acquired for Montgomery to trade up to select him, becomes an explosive force off the edge, the trade with Houston will wind up looking like climbing a rung up the ladder rather than slipping backwards by being tied to one of the more expensive running back contracts in the league.

Releasing Decker, at age 32, created upwards of $11 million in spending flexibility.

While Anzalone and Reader’s impact as culture drivers and steady contributors will be missed on defense, it is clear that the Lions were looking to raise the ceiling on that side of the ball while investing resources elsewhere to hopefully build out an even more complete roster than the one that missed the postseason entirely in 2025.

Detroit’s first two selections in this year’s draft have the traits and pedigree to join the long line of Lions rookies who blossom into core building blocks of one of the most competitive franchises in the sport.

Miller, 6-foot-6 and 317 pounds, is a colossal human being who steps right into the void at right tackle as a bookend to three-time All-Pro Penei Sewell, not just resetting the financial clock at right tackle but propping open the window for a violent, aggressive, downhill running attack to continue setting the tone.

At Clemson, Miller was one of Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded tackles in this year’s draft class, while only allowing two sacks last season. A plug-and-play starter, Miller continues Detroit’s tradition of drafting and developing, as he slides into a starting job along a line that features four homegrown starters.

Meanwhile, Holmes bucked precedent by trading up to select Moore, off an elite season at Michigan where he produced a 30% Pass-Rush-Win-Rate from ESPN, on his way to 10 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss last season in Ann Arbor.

Not only have the Lions earned the benefit of the doubt that their early-round picks will knock it out of the park, but Miller and Moore’s traits telegraph that they’ll be the kind of high-upside players that improve the further along they slide on the UAW-sanctioned Campbell Assembly Line.

Much of what the Lions did — and didn’t do, this offseason seems to have a far longer time horizon in mind than merely contending in 2026.

While the Lions have a roster, and a culture, that should keep them in the mix both within the NFC North and contending for one of the top seeds in the NFC, the unfortunate realities are that this is a team that has backslid each season since leading in the NFC Championship Game against San Francisco in 2023, and the competition has intensified.

Still, with at least one eye trained steadfastly on sustained success, the Lions still have upwards of $23.3 million in cap space (15th-most in the NFL) this offseason, are primed to have $72.1 million (11th most in the NFL) in 2027, and $174.1 million in 2028.

That’s the kind of cap space that is not only going to come in handy but prove necessary to have around, with contract extensions for Gibbs, Campbell, Brian Branch, and Sam LaPorta, who, among others, aren’t just NFL Draft success stories but instrumental to what the Lions have built.

Whether Holmes’ moves this offseason are enough to keep the Lions in the mix in 2026 feels almost secondary to the mission of ensuring Detroit is able to continue cashing in on the prime years of the players they’ve drafted, yielding legitimate runs at the Super Bowl over at least the next half-decade.

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