The 2025 NFL Draft is important for Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes. The veteran league executive was named to the position in 2021 and has promptly turned an underdog franchise into a legitimate Super Bowl contender. The Lions have rolled to a 27-7 record over the past two seasons, boasting consecutive playoff appearances.
Heading into the draft, Holmes has promised to evaluate all available scenarios to improve the roster for another run at a championship — including strongly considering trade options.
Could Lions Trade WR Jameson Williams? NFL Insider Sparks Draft Week Speculation
The Lions have one of the league’s most potent offenses, with the team’s two running backs combining for more than 2,000 yards and the top two wideouts each topping 1,000 receiving yards in 2024. On the surface, breaking up this unit seems crazy. But what if a trade offer comes up that’s too good to refuse?
Sports Illustrated analyst Albert Breer recently wrote about fifth-year option players who could become valuable trade pieces before this week’s draft. One of those options? A promising young Lions wide receiver.
“The fifth-year option deadline is coming next week — could it lead to a trade or two?” Breer wrote.
“So a scenario or two could play out like this: A team is wavering on exercising a fifth-year option on a player since the fifth-year option is fully guaranteed at signing. But the team also knows that the player will be more valuable with two years left on his deal than one. So rather than deciding on the option, the team trades the player to give that team the right to exercise the option and have two years of control over the player.”
Breer continued, “Thing is, to me, if you’re on the fence on exercising the option, then you’re less likely to give the guy a blockbuster extension, so you have to consider moving him, simply because being willing to consider exercising it means he’ll likely have value to someone else.”
“It definitely makes you wonder if, say, the uncertain future of guys such as Detroit Lions WR Jameson Williams or Giants OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux could elicit phone calls in the coming days.”
The idea of Jameson Williams being dangled as a trade piece adds a bit of intrigue to a pivotal draft for the Lions. Williams is coming off a career year after posting 1,001 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.
Holmes has never been shy about pulling the trigger on bold moves when he sees an opportunity. In 2021, he made headlines by trading longtime starting quarterback Matthew Stafford to the Rams in a deal that brought Jared Goff and a haul of draft picks to Detroit.
A year later, Holmes aggressively jumped up 20 spots in the draft to grab Williams, which raised eyebrows but showed his conviction. Then, in 2023, he played the board smartly — trading down six spots to land Jahmyr Gibbs at No. 12 — proving he knows when to be aggressive and when to be calculated.
Currently, Williams appears to be part of the team’s long-term plans. Still, Breer’s comments about the trade value of players approaching their fifth-year options present an angle Holmes can’t ignore. With the draft approaching fast, don’t be surprised if the Lions find themselves at the center of a few trade rumors — whether they act or not is another story.