{"id":606106,"date":"2026-04-14T11:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/606106\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T11:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:08:11","slug":"lions-open-to-trading-up-in-first-round-for-the-right-guy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/606106\/","title":{"rendered":"Lions open to trading up in first round for the right guy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Eric WoodyardApr 14, 2026, 08:00 PM<\/p>\n

Close<\/a>Eric Woodyard covers the Detroit Lions for ESPN. He joined ESPN in September 2019 as an NBA reporter dedicated to the Midwest region before switching to his current role in April 2021. The Flint, Mich. native is a graduate of Western Michigan University and has authored\/co-authored three books: “Wasted,” “Ethan’s Talent Search” and “All In: The Kelvin Torbert Story”. He is a proud parent of one son, Ethan.<\/p>\n

Multiple Authors<\/p>\n

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Detroit Lions<\/a> general manager Brad Holmes didn’t make the trip to Phoenix for the NFL annual meeting late last month.<\/p>\n

Instead, he stayed behind to focus on preparation for the upcoming NFL draft<\/a> after a season when Detroit failed to reach the postseason for the first time since 2022.<\/p>\n

The Lions hold nine picks<\/a> in next week’s draft, including No. 17 overall. And Holmes says he wouldn’t hesitate to go all-in on a trade for a player, if the organization feels it can bring the Lions a Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

Get ready for the 2026 NFL draft<\/p>\n

\u2022 Mocks: Kiper<\/a> | Miller<\/a> | Reid<\/a> | Yates<\/a>
\u2022 Rankings: Kiper<\/a> | Miller<\/a> | Reid<\/a> | Yates<\/a>
\u2022 Intel on 32 teams<\/a> | Best at everything<\/a>
\u2022 Team needs<\/a> | Best by position<\/a> | Comps<\/a>
\u2022 Latest buzz<\/a> | Full draft order<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n

“Absolutely. Yeah, if it’s the right guy. You guys know me,” Holmes said during his predraft news conference on Monday. “If we have that kind of conviction for a player, absolutely. We’re going to go and get him.”<\/p>\n

Since Holmes arrived in Detroit in 2021, the organization has been aggressive in getting the types of players it wants, often orchestrating draft-day trades to position itself to make moves.<\/p>\n

Holmes traded up 20 spots, from No. 32, to take Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams<\/a> with the 12th pick in 2022.<\/p>\n

He traded the sixth overall pick in 2023 to the Arizona Cardinals<\/a> for picks 12 and 34, and the Lions used that capital to grab Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs<\/a> and Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell<\/a> in the first round.<\/p>\n

In 2024, Holmes traded up five spots, from No. 29 to No. 24, to draft Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And when Holmes makes a pick, it often pays off.<\/p>\n

The Lions have drafted seven players since 2021 who have made the Pro Bowl, the most in the NFL during that span. They are Amon-Ra St. Brown<\/a> and Penei Sewell<\/a> in 2021 and Aidan Hutchinson<\/a> in ’22. There were four Lions picks in 2023 who made the Pro Bowl, which is the most by any team in a single draft since the 2010 Seahawks had four, according to ESPN Research. They are Brian Branch<\/a>, Sam LaPorta<\/a>, Gibbs and Campbell.<\/p>\n

Holmes felt he addressed many of the team’s needs during the free agency period, but he is certainly taking this draft just as seriously as he did with those from the past. He feels that the depth of this year’s class is very similar to the past couple drafts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eric WoodyardApr 14, 2026, 08:00 PM CloseEric Woodyard covers the Detroit Lions for ESPN. He joined ESPN in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-606106","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}