As Brad Holmes sized up the market for receivers early this offseason, he had a pretty good idea that Kenny Golladay's time in Detroit was coming to an end.
Holmes knew the Lions could replenish the receivers room in both free agency and the draft. And he liked the idea of doing so at a much cheaper price than what it would have cost to either tag Golladay or sign him to a long-term deal.
"With Kenny, always stated that he’s a very, very talented receiver," Holmes said Monday. "But we pretty much knew, as with pretty much every year in terms of free agency and the draft, that it’s relatively deep in both spots."
So the Lions let Golladay hit free agency, where he landed a $72 million deal with the Giants. With Marvin Jones also departing, they signed Tyrell Williams and Breshad Perriman to a pair of one-year deals worth a combined $6.25 million. And they could add an elite receiver in the draft in Ja'Marr Chase, DeVonta Smith or Jaylen Waddle with the seventh overall pick.
Holmes said the Lions considered a sign-and-trade for Golladay, but the uncertainty of finding a trade partner turned them against it.
"We did discuss it and we mulled over it. I wasn’t joking when I said he was at the forefront of my mind throughout the whole process. But we did discuss those options. There is some difficulty in terms of forecasting (what’s) involved. That’s why you may see it more prevalent in the NBA than in the NFL. It is possible you can do it, but again, with how the market was shaping up with depth both in free agency and the draft, we just felt to go the route of not tagging him," said Holmes.
Golladay reportedly turned down a deal from the previous regime worth as much as $19 million per year. With Holmes and Dan Campbell leading the Lions into a full-blown rebuild and needing to address numerous holes on the roster, they weren't going to invest that much money in a receiver. So the future took precedence over the present and Golladay became part of the past.
"There were a few different factors that went into it, but at the end of the day it was just making the right decision for the Lions, not only short-term but more importantly long-term," Holmes said. "So that was the decision we came to, but we wish Kenny nothing but the best in New York and was happy to see that he got a good deal."