Since the duo of general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell took over in 2021, the Detroit Lions have been moving in the right direction and are now preparing for a season in which they are expected to compete for a Super Bowl.
And that turnaround has gotten some love in a recent article from The Athletic's Ben Standig, who asked NFL agents their opinions on the best- and worst-run franchise in the NFL, among other things.
The Lions received one vote for the best-run franchise, tying them with the Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Rams and Houston Texans.
The teams to land ahead of Detroit were the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins.
Holmes recently admitted that things have changed in terms of how agents and players view the franchise, and the polls in Standig's article verify that.
"It has been different," Holmes said, per ESPN's Eric Woodyard. "In the past -- I would say for the first two years, we were doing a lot of selling and convincing constantly just to try to get guys here. ... But now, it does make you feel good that we've done something, and we've accomplished some good things that these agents want to send their players here."
In addition to the love the Lions received for having a well-run franchise, the team also got a vote for having the best offseason of any team in the NFL, Holmes was named the best talent evaluator by two agents, and he was named the best general manager by five agents, tied for the second-most in the poll.
“He and his staff have done a great job of evaluating on every level," an agent said of Holmes. "Several of his moves were questioned in real time, whether taking on Jared Goff’s contract as part of the Matthew Stafford trade, hiring Dan Campbell as head coach or drafting a running back among the top-12 picks. Whatever the criticism, Holmes stayed the course.”
As if we needed further proof that the Lions are in great hands with Holmes and Campbell moving forward.