Brad Holmes is right.
He would’ve traded T.J. Hockenson if the Detroit Lions were 6-1 … for in-his-prime Rob Gronkowski or Tony Gonzalez or Antonio Gates or George Kittle or Travis Kelce or any other Hall of Fame-level tight end.
But for a second- and third-round pick?
Absolutely not.
Holmes can say all he wants that the trade was “not reflective of our record.” Of course, it was reflective of the Lions’ record. As he said during his impromptu news conference Wednesday, “different teams have different windows.”
The Vikings, who sent the draft picks for Hockenson, are trying to contend. The Lions are trying … well, it’s hard to say what the Lions are trying to do.
They are rebuilding, I guess. Holmes said as much Wednesday. Team owner Sheila Hamp said the same last week.
So, let’s all agree they are rebuilding. Why not just say that then?
Why offer up the ridiculous scenario that he would’ve made the same trade if the Lions were storming through the NFL?
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Why not just lean into the reasons that make sense?
Like the fact that the Lions are probably going to have to draft a quarterback this spring, and that Hockenson, while only 25, has a contract that will expire after next season, and that the Lions would have to pay him handsomely to keep him around, and that the timeline with a young QB on a rebuilding team didn’t line up. Trading Hockenson is an acknowledgement that the rebuild will take some time, even though everyone who watches the Lions could already see that.
I suspect that Holmes made the comment about trading Hockenson whether the team was 1-6 or 6-1 because he wanted to sound like he has a plan, that the organization has a plan, that three days after his left tackle told reporters that the 1-6 start was “exhausting” he couldn’t add to the defeatism and drudgery and by saying he would’ve made the trade regardless he is really saying that he knows football.
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That there is a larger plan in place.
In fact, he said as much:
“All the moves that we make are well thought out and in the best interest of the football team. Nothing is impulse. Nothing is knee-jerk. We strive to be the best we can and (be) adept as possible for the present and future of the football team.”
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But he didn’t need to offer up the hypothetical about a 6-1 record. It made him look disingenuous and even silly. And he doesn’t come across as either.
It’s possible that a 6-1 Lions team is so fantastical, so far-fetched, so hard to believe that Holmes can’t begin to imagine the fervor that would consume this town if the Lions began a season that way. But I doubt it.
Holmes admitted that trades like this one can be disheartening. Becausethey acknowledge that the season is finished, and even though the Lions season ended on that dreary field in New England a few weeks ago, shipping off Hockenson made it real.
“Players being acquired? That’s exciting,” he said. “Draft picks? That’s not exciting.”
Oh,, for the day when this franchise is trying to poach Hockensons from other teams and sending those teams draft picks. Again, hard to imagine.
So, what now?
Well, Holmes contends that the offense should still be able to score.
“I think we’ve proven (that),” he said.
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Losing Hockenson will make this harder. Though Holmes and Dan Campbell think they’ve got the players — and adjusted play designs — to make up for Hockenson’s production.
Maybe they do. That’ll play out the next couple months.
In the meantime, the fan base has to swallow wasting another first-round pick on a tight end. It will taste bitter. More bitter because another promising and talented player has come and gone and barely left an imprint.
This isn’t an indictment on Hockenson — he should thrive in Minnesota — as much as the franchise into which he was drafted. Holmes — and Campbell — are desperately trying to change this.
They don’t want their players to be so crestfallen that they use words like “exhausting” before it’s even November. They don’t want to keep shipping off talent midseason. They want to bring in talent at the trade deadline. As Holmes noted, it’s a lot more fun that way.
That kind of fun feels like light years away.
Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.