Detroit Lions: GM Brad Holmes admits to violating NFL draft rules

The Detroit Lions were so excited to have the opportunity to draft starting tackle Penei Sewell; they actually violated the NFL’s draft rules.

Most of us will likely remember the outpouring of excitement displayed in the Detroit Lions War Room after the organization selected Oregon’s stellar offensive tackle with the seventh overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft for years.

The video still gives me goosebumps.

It’s a wonderful feeling seeing the team you root for, in this case, the Detroit Lions select ‘their’ player.

General manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell didn’t settle for Justin Fields, nor did they get an offer they felt was strong enough to warrant trading back.  The Lions went out and got the player atop their draft board and violated the draft rules along the way.

No harm, no foul.  Sewell is a Lion and there were no repercussions from the league office for the slight imperfection.

Recently Holmes was interviewed on 97.1 the ticket’s Stoney and Jansen with Heather Morning Show, mentioning how it all went down.

Rather than waiting for the 10-minute clock to count down before submitting the draft choice, Holmes submitted the choice immediately after finding out Miami chose receiver Jaylen Waddle with the sixth overall pick.

"“To land a cornerstone, foundational piece like him, the talent level is easy to see but the more and more you got to know the human being, he’s just a great kid that comes from a great family,” Holmes said. “He’s just such a fit for what our culture is here. We just couldn’t be more excited. It pretty much was an eruption of excitement.”“We did get some (trade) dialogue from other teams, but when he fell I just said, ‘You know what, I’m just gonna go ahead and turn this pick in and do it immediately,'” Holmes said Tuesday on the Stoney & Jansen Show. “I found out afterward I was kind of in violation because I did it a little bit too early. But I just couldn’t really hold really back that excitement that we had to get him.”"

One can only assume that Holmes felt Sewell would not fall to Detroit at seven with both Cincinnati and Miami each having a young second-year quarterback in place would protect their investment with the top offensive lineman in the draft.  The fact that Sewell fell into Detroit’s lap certainly led to the uncontrolled outburst of excitement in the teams’ War Room and the violation.

The full audio can be found here.

It’s a Detroit Lions team that produced the 13th best offensive line according to Pro Football Focus (PFF) in 2020 should be propelled into a top-five unit in 2021.