Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Committed to building through the draft, the financial impact of the Detroit Lions 2022 draft class will be a foundational part of the rebuild.
In two offseasons as Detroit Lions general manager, Brad Holmes has made it clear he will build the roster through the draft. With his long run as the Rams’ director of college scouting, and some of the finds he spearheaded there, he has a resume that fosters faith the process will yield an winner in Detroit.
In 2021, it made perfect sense for the Lions to do very little in free agency. Some would have liked to have seen a bit more aggressiveness in free agency this offseason, but the focus was on re-signing guys who fit the culture being set with a few one-year deals with outside free agents.
As much as anything, drafting your core allows NFL teams to maintain cost control on a bunch of younger players. For a rebuilding team like the Lions, it’s practically mandatory to not break the bank on any veteran free agents so you can add multiple pieces, have depth and create legit competition.
The Lions cap outlook is pretty good, which will perhaps open the door to bigger moves down the road–when they are at least closer to contention and looking to add what might be called final pieces of a really good team.
But in the here and now as well as looking forward, what’s the financial impact of the Lions’ 2022 draft class?
Note: Projected contract numbers for Lions’s 2022 draft picks come courtesy of Spotrac.