Another free agency has gone by and the Detroit Lions did not invest heavily in the defensive end position outside of Aidan Hutchinson. Over the past few years, the team has seen several players attempt to fill that role with varying degrees of success, including Charles Harris, Marcus Davenport, and Al-Quadin Muhammad. None of those players required significant investment, but none of them stuck around for more than a few years, either.
This year, DJ Wonnum appears to be their primary choice in free agency. Detroit handed Wonnum a one-year, $3 million deal that could be worth up to $6 million with incentives.
During his appearance on the Lions Collective podcast, Lions general manager Brad Holmes explained his process when it came to the edge defender position, and it starts with Detroit prioritizing offensive line upgrades this year. The Lions first—and only—multi-year contract handed out in free agency was a three-year, $25 million for center Cade Mays. They also gave tackle Larry Borom a one-year, $5 million deal that is nearly fully guaranteed.
That spending, according to Holmes, put them out of the race for some defensive ends on the market, including the opportunity to re-sign Muhammad.
“I knew what we needed to do on the offensive line. We were all very aware of what we were going to do on the offensive line,” Holmes said. “And so once we made those financial commitments on the offensive line, I pretty much had a good sense that I don’t think that we’re going to be able to do much else when it comes to that (EDGE) position.
“That’s another expensive position. It’s like what they call it, it’s a premium position. So, basically, it wasn’t like we’re choosing this player over that player, and I wouldn’t even say the financials were exactly the same (between Wonnum and Muhammad) as well. Just once we made that decision for the offensive line, made that commitment, it kinda took us out of some of those other options at edge rusher, including Muhammad.”
Holmes said he had “great dialogue” with Muhammad, but the figures just did not align for a return. Muhammad signed a one-year, $4 million deal with the Buccaneers—a base value just $1 million more than Wonnym got in Detroit. But with incentives that appear to be categorized as “Likely to Be Earned,” Muhammad’s 2026 cap hit is listed as $5.25 million compared to Wonnum’s $2.96 million (explained more here).
That said, Holmes did profess his excitement for Wonnum, particularly his value in a ton of different roles.
“Watching his tape last year, it was impressive,” Holmes said. “They had him doing some things that were kind of, I would say, probably not right in his wheelhouse, a lot of dropping, showing some athletic ability in the middle of hte field that was refreshing to see. But he can still set edges, he can set hard edges, he can still win rushes, and he can play all up and down the line. So we’re excited to get him.”
Holmes also explained why, in general, the Lions weren’t big spenders in free agency at all positions. Of the 10 external free agent signings the Lions have made, seven were one-year deals with a base value at $2 million or less. Holmes, as he’s done in the past, focused on the internal extensions of drafted players taking up the majority of their cap space both now and the future.
He pointed to the team’s first five first-round picks under his time—Penei Sewell, Aidan Hutchinson, Jameson Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Jack Campbell—as players who have reached the potential they saw, and have either been rewarded (Sewell, Hutchinson, Williams have been extended) or they would like to reward—Holmes hasn’t been shy about his desire to lock up Gibbs and Campbell to a new deal. When you add two players they viewed as first-round talent in 2023 that are likely headed for extensions (Brian Branch, Sam LaPorta), a trio of mid-round hits (Kerby Joseph, Alim McNeill, Amon-Ra St. Brown), and a franchise quarterback (Jared Goff) that adds up to a 11-player core that they are choosing to retain rather than let walk and spend the savings in free agency.
In terms of 2026 cap hit, excluding the four 2023 draft picks who are likely getting extensions, the other seven players are currently taking up $151,565,200 in cap space—or just over 50% percent of the team’s salary cap.
Holmes said he prefers the strategy of keeping those players, maintaining a strong nucleus, rather than pushing all of the chips in for one season.
“We’re trying to keep our sustainability at a good level. We’re not trying to do this one-and-done kind of thing,” Holmes said. “You can two different approaches. You can be, let’s not extend these players and then let’s get more expensive free agents. Well, are we sure that that’s the right move? Is that going to give us the right amount of sustainability that we’re looking for? Those are the decisions that we’re always weighing.”
And in terms of free agency spending, rather than going after one prized possession or one game-changer, Holmes knew the team’s needs were wide-spanning and prioritizing one player would’ve left them incapable of filling other needs.
“Hypothetically, say you have a $20 million budget for free agency (…), well you can look at one guy and say, ‘Look, you can get that one player,’ and say you get that one player. That one player is $18, 19 million. Well, what else are you going to get? So then you’re trying to—well, tackle, center, defensive end, DBs you want—that stuff adds up, man,” Holmes said.
You can catch Holmes’ entire 50-minute interview over at the Lions Collective YouTube page.
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