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Lions GM Brad Holmes: 'We mulled' tag and trade with Kenny Golladay
Brad Holmes gave serious consideration to signing wide receiver Kenny Golladay to the franchise tag and then trying to trade him, but ultimately that scenario proved too risky for the Detroit Lions' first-year general manager, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports.
Holmes made that revelation during a 20-minute video conference Monday to discuss the team's many offseason moves.
Golladay signed a four-year, $72 million deal with the New York Giants earlier this month that was one of the richest contracts in free agency.
Had the Lions used the tag on Golladay, they would have been able to control his rights for the 2021 season at the cost of about $16 million.
"We did discuss it and we mulled over it," Holmes said. "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 and it just, there is some difficultly in terms of forecasting that’s involved. So that’s kind of why you probably may see (moves like that are) more prevalent in the NBA versus the NFL."
Historically, teams have gotten more in return from tag-and-trade deals than the compensatory draft choice they get for losing a free agent, in Golladay's case, a projected third-rounder.
Holmes said the depth of the wide receiver position both in free agency and the draft and "how the market was shaping out" led him to pass on both tagging Golladay and pursuing Golladay to re-sign.
A Pro Bowl receiver in 2019 who was limited to five games with hip and hamstring injuries last season, Golladay was widely considered one of the top players on the market regardless of position, but the Giants appeared to be bidding against themselves - at least at the $18 million-per-season price point - for Golladay's services.
Brad Holmes gave serious consideration to signing wide receiver Kenny Golladay to the franchise tag and then trying to trade him, but ultimately that scenario proved too risky for the Detroit Lions' first-year general manager, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports.
Holmes made that revelation during a 20-minute video conference Monday to discuss the team's many offseason moves.
Golladay signed a four-year, $72 million deal with the New York Giants earlier this month that was one of the richest contracts in free agency.
Had the Lions used the tag on Golladay, they would have been able to control his rights for the 2021 season at the cost of about $16 million.
"We did discuss it and we mulled over it," Holmes said. "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 and it just, there is some difficultly in terms of forecasting that’s involved. So that’s kind of why you probably may see (moves like that are) more prevalent in the NBA versus the NFL."
Historically, teams have gotten more in return from tag-and-trade deals than the compensatory draft choice they get for losing a free agent, in Golladay's case, a projected third-rounder.
Holmes said the depth of the wide receiver position both in free agency and the draft and "how the market was shaping out" led him to pass on both tagging Golladay and pursuing Golladay to re-sign.
A Pro Bowl receiver in 2019 who was limited to five games with hip and hamstring injuries last season, Golladay was widely considered one of the top players on the market regardless of position, but the Giants appeared to be bidding against themselves - at least at the $18 million-per-season price point - for Golladay's services.
