The Dollar General: How Brad Holmes Weaponized The Salary Cap
When General Manager Brad Holmes walked into the Detroit Lions’ facility in 2021, the salary cap was a crime scene.
When General Manager Brad Holmes walked into the Detroit Lions’ facility in 2021, the salary cap was a crime scene. Massive dead money allocations suffocated the books. The depth chart was depleted, and the locker room lacked the requisite talent demanded by head coach Dan Campbell. To rebuild a franchise, they were going to start from the mud.
The Lions’ cap space prior to the new league year in 2021 was heavily in the red, anchored by a massive dead cap hit exceeding $84 million. Holmes had to architect a roster-building philosophy that operated with ruthless financial efficiency. He found his ultimate leverage point in the one-year contract.
