It’s been quite some time since we checked in with Detroit Lions fans regarding their opinion of general manager Brad Holmes. The last time we polled our audience was almost exactly a year ago, following the team’s 2025 NFL Draft. Unfortunately, those poll results were lost to time (and a migration to a new content management system at SB Nation).
Detroit, MI
Detroit Lions Sign QB Teddy Bridgewater To Backup Jared Goff in 2026
The free agency tampering period has begun for the NFL, and the Detroit Lions are among the active teams acquiring players as they try to get back to the playoffs after they did not meet their own standard for last season.
On Monday, it was revealed that 2025 Lions backup quarterback Kyle Allen was heading to Buffalo, leaving another hole in the roster to fill. Nearly 24 hours later, that hole has been filled, as veteran quarterbackTeddy Bridgewater is heading back to Motown.
Bridgewater spent the 2023 season with Detroit, in what initially was going to be his final season in the league.
However, after coaching Miami Northwestern Senior High School to a state championship in Florida during the 2024 season, he announced he was planning to unretire, and Detroit picked him up for their push towards the top seed in the NFC.
Bridgewater then resigned as head coach at Miami Northwestern and signed with Tampa Bay to backup Baker Mayfield last season.
He appeared in four games last season, throwing 15 passes for the Buccaneers, which were his first NFL pass attempts since 2022.
Bridgewater is a safe option at backup quarterback in Detroit, as the former Rookie of the Year has had a steady career since entering the league with Minnesota out of Louisville in 2014.
Bridgewater returns to back up Jared Goff under new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, as this is a situation where Detroit stuck with a player they knew. For Petzing, this is not the first time coaching Teddy Bridgewater, as he was an offensive assistant with Minnesota when they drafted Bridgewater in 2014.
A leg injury derailed his career after a Pro Bowl season in 2015, but he has started 37 games since the injury as a journeyman. Bridgewater left Minnesota and Drew Petzing and would overlap with Dan Campbell when the quarterback played for New Orleans in 2018 and 2019. In addition to Minnesota, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, and Detroit, Bridgewater has also played for Carolina, Denver, and Miami.
Detroit stuck with a safe and familiar option in Bridgewater, as a majority of their offense, alongside most of their offensive staff, have worked with the quarterback before. If Bridgewater is turned to in any situation, there will be full confidence in the Louisville product to make the right play.
NFL Draft Implications
This puts Detroit in a unique position when looking ahead towards the NFL Draft, as a popular mock draft pick for Detroit was taking a quarterback, with Cole Payton, Luke Altmyer, and Taylen Green all being among the names mentioned.
Bridgewater is an excellent mentor alongside Goff, but having three quarterbacks on the Lions roster after injury-riddled campaigns in the last two seasons may not be the wisest allocation of a roster spot.
For the time being, Detroit has their backup quarterback for the season, and there is not a better option than Bridgewater when it comes to familiarity and adaptability. While the former Pro Bowl quarterback has yet to throw a pass in Detroit, he has the familiairity and trust of the coaching staff to be a backup entering a pivotal year.
4Warn Weather – SATURDAY: Mostly cloudy skies. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. A few storms could be strong with gusty winds and hail. High: 71.
SATURDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy skies, becoming partly cloudy skies late. Low: 45.
SUNDAY (MOTHER’S DAY): Mix of sunshine and clouds, cooler temperatures. High: 61.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy skies. Another chilly night. Low: 41.
MONDAY: Mostly sunny skies, remaining chilly. High: 58.
After a beautiful end to the week on Friday with sunshine and a little cloud cover, with warmer temperatures moving into the region as well, some of us are waking up to some patchy dense fog on Saturday morning. Some places south of M-59 are seeing reduced visibilities down to around a mile. If you do run into some patchy dense fog, be sure to use your low beams.
That warming trend continues into the start of the weekend on Saturday, but it also brings a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Another cold front will work through the region by Saturday afternoon and early Saturday evening and that will bring our thunderstorm chance. High temperature is warming into low 70s by Saturday afternoon.
The Storm Prediction Center has placed most of the region under a Marginal Risk (1 out of 5) on our severe weather scale for the start of the weekend. Gusty winds and hail are the primary threats as we work through the start of the weekend, but this will not be a widespread threat for severe thunderstorms.
Behind that cold front for the end of the weekend on Sunday, we will keep a mixture of sunshine and clouds into the forecast. High temperatures running about 10 to 15° cooler to end the weekend. Expect high to warm into the upper 50s to lower 60s by Sunday afternoon.
Drier weather sticks around for the start of next week, before another chance of rain moves into the region by the time we get to Tuesday. The cooler-than-average temperatures will continue into the start of next week as well. Expect high temperatures to remain in the 50s for Monday and Tuesday.
Temperature start to warm up by the middle of next week, and Drier weather moves back in by Wednesday behind another cold front moving into the region. Expect high temperatures into the lower 60s on Wednesday to warm into the upper 60s by the time we get to Thursday. Above average temperatures move back into the region as we look ahead into the end of the week, expect high temperatures back into the lower 70s by the time we get to Friday.
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But as you can see below, Holmes has been an extremely popular figure among Detroit sports fans for pretty much his entire career.
Although, if there was a time when Holmes’ popularity took a hit, it was likely during the 2025 NFL season, when the Lions took their first clear step back since he and Dan Campbell came to town.
Since last year’s data was lost to time, this is a good opportunity to check back in with Lions fans. While Holmes certainly deserves a ton of credit for getting the Lions back to relevancy and helping them produce four consecutive seasons with winning records, there are some serious blemishes on his resumé now. The 2024 NFL Draft class has not lived up to his high standards through two seasons, some of his riskiest picks over the last few years have all failed to pay off, and last year’s roster just wasn’t good enough to withstand the injuries.
But Holmes is also coming off a very crowd-pleasing draft. Detroit addressed their two biggest needs with their first two selections, and there were no crazy head-scratching picks or expensive trade ups. Many have categorized his latest draft as “back to business as usual,” which could have some fans he lost back on his side.
However, that is all up to you. Vote on your thoughts about Holmes’ time in Detroit below, and share your extended thoughts in the comment section at the bottom of the page.
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