“Lions GM Brad Holmes Reveals Shocking Confidence in Jared Goff: What He Saw That No One Else Did”

In the fast-paced world of the NFL, trades can often be the defining moment for franchises—both good and bad. When Brad Holmes stepped into the role of General Manager for the Detroit Lions, he made a bold move that set the stage for a seismic shift in the league: trading Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for Jared Goff and a pair of first-round draft picks. Initially, the move appeared to benefit the Rams as they celebrated a Super Bowl victory the very next season. However, as the dust settles three years later, both teams seem to have emerged as winners in this high-stakes game. Holmes, who has a unique connection to Goff, reflects on his unwavering belief in the quarterback throughout trials and triumphs. In this article, we delve into Holmes’ journey, the impact of the trade, and how the Lions are reclaiming their glory, all while casting a spotlight on Goff’s evolution into a leader. Curious to see how these developments unfold? LEARN MORE.

Holmes acknowledged that in his first year as Lions GM, trading a quarterback to his old team and promptly seeing his old team win the Super Bowl while his new team went 3-13-1, that was tough. But he was happy for his old bosses with the Rams, Les Snead, Sean McVay and Kevin Demoff, and said all of them have given him credit for helping them get there, while also congratulating him for what he’s done with the Lions.When Lions General Manager Brad Holmes got the job in Detroit, he quickly got to work on one of the biggest trades in NFL history: Sending Matthew Stafford to Los Angeles for Jared Goff and two first-round draft picks. A year later, when Stafford won the Super Bowl with the Rams, it looked like the Rams won the trade. Three years later, with the Lions coming off back-to-back NFC North titles, it looks like a trade that both teams won.Holmes, who worked for the Rams before he got the Lions job, said on PFT Live at the league meeting that while some people thought Goff’s contract was just a throw-in on the trade to make it work for salary cap purposes, Holmes himself always believed in Goff.“When we did the big trade, the Goff-Stafford trade, I had a pretty good idea that they were gonna do some big things with Stafford at the helm,” Holmes said. “It hurt a little bit, but those those guys are great, Les and Sean and Kevin, those guys, they did reach out and, told me how much they appreciated what my efforts were in that whole thing, but they got the job done.”In the last two years the Lions are getting the job done, and if this season Goff leads them all the way to the franchise’s Super Bowl, it will be Holmes’ faith in Goff that got them where they wanted to go.“I’ve always said, I had more optimism than probably the outside world did, just because I knew him so intimately well,” Holmes said of Goff. “All the work that we did with him coming out in the draft and all the early success, I was right there with that early success and, I always said when I was with the Rams, when we lost that Super Bowl people ready to really just write them off. And I was like, look, he’s so young and he still has so much left in them that, I had a lot of optimism that he was going to continue to develop and continue to mature and continue to get better. Again, you don’t have a crystal ball. You never know how far it’s going to go, but I’m so very happy for him because he’s put all the work in.”