Brad Holmes Just Made Franchise History With One Signature
The Lions got their second-round pick signed. Derrick Moore, the Michigan pass rusher they grabbed with pick 44, just inked his rookie deal. Four years, $11.426 million, fully guaranteed with a $4.038 million signing bonus.
Here’s the thing that should make every Lions fan do a double-take: this is the first time in franchise history they’ve given a second-round pick a fully guaranteed contract. Ever.
Not Sam LaPorta. Not Brian Branch. Not any of the second-rounders who actually worked out over the decades of drafting that ranged from competent to catastrophic. Moore gets to be the first.
Why This Matters More Than The Money
Remember last year? The Lions didn’t get Tate Ratledge signed until July 17th, just three days before training camp started. The holdup was Houston and Cleveland giving their second-rounders (Jayden Higgins and Carson Schwesinger) fully guaranteed deals, which made every agent in that round start pushing for the same treatment.
This time around, Brad Holmes saw the writing on the wall and decided to get ahead of it instead of fighting it. Smart move.
The Raiders just gave their 38th pick (Treadyn Stukes) a fully guaranteed deal. The Jets gave their second-rounder (D’Angelo Ponds) a 90% guarantee. Eventually every second-round pick is going to get fully guaranteed money because that’s just how these things work in the NFL. The Lions are choosing to be part of the solution rather than the problem.
It’s a franchise-first contract for a franchise that’s finally doing things differently than it used to. Holmes continues to show he understands how to operate in this league without getting bogged down in battles that don’t need to be fought.
Is giving a second-round rookie full guarantees the new normal or are we watching GM’s throw money at unproven talent? Let me know what you think in the comments below.
This is exactly what I’ve been hoping to see from this front office. Holmes isn’t fighting battles just to fight them, he’s being smart about what the market actually is. Getting ahead of the agent stuff before it becomes a problem in July shows he’s learning how to run a modern NFL team.
Look I get it, Holmes is thinking strategically and that’s cool. But handing out full guarantees to a second rounder just because other teams are doing it? I’m not saying it’s wrong, just want to see it pay off on the field before I’m cheering about contract stuff.
After all the years of watching this franchise get nickel and dimed in these negotiations, it’s actually refreshing to see someone just make a decision and move forward. This team finally feels like it’s being run by people who know what they’re doing instead of constantly being behind the 8 ball.