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
Report: Detroit Lions signing local, undrafted kicker
According to Michigan Wolverines reporter Anthony Broome, the Detroit Lions are signing Michigan kicker James Turner as an undrafted free agent.
Over the weekend, the 2024 NFL Draft saw three kickers drafted—Alabama’s Will Reichard (Vikings), Stanford’s Joshua Karty (Rams), and Arkansas’ Cam Little (Jaguars)—all in the sixth round. The Lions opted to pass on the opportunity to add kicker competition in the draft, but identified Turner in the undrafted free agent market.
Turner has four years of college experience as a kicker. For the first three years at the college ranks, he was with Louisville. There he had two successful seasons sandwiching a rough one. Take a look:
- 2020: 40-of-40 on extra points (100%), 13-of-15 on field goals (86.7%), Long: 50
- 2021: 46-of-48 on extra points (95.8), 14-of-22 on field goals (63.6%), Long: 46
- 2022: 38-of-39 on extra points (97.4), 20-of-22 on field goals (90.9%), Long: 48
In that 2022 season, Turner set the Louisville program record for field goal percentage, while tying for most field goals made in a season.
In 2023, Turner entered the transfer portal and helped the Wolverines win a national championship. He converted 65-of-66 extra points, along with 18-of-21 (85.7%) on field goals, with a long of 50 yards—which he accomplished on three different occasions. In the national title game, Turner was a perfect 6-for-6 on kicks (two field goals, four extra points).
In short, Turner has been a reliable kicker from short and moderate distances, but with a college long of just 50 yards, he may not solve the Lions’ current issue of having no reliable long-distance kicker.
Turner will come in and compete with incumbent kicker Michael Badgley. Last year, Badgley initially lost out on the kicker competition before returning to the practice squad, winning the job back, and going 4-of-4 in the regular season and 3-for-3 on field goals in the postseason.
In addition to adding Turner, the Lions have also shown interest in Michigan Panthers kicker Jake Bates, who has caught the attention of NFL teams after starting the season perfect on field goals, including a pair of makes from 60+ yards. Bates cannot sign with a team until the UFL season is over in June.
To see all of the Lions’ UDFA signings, head over to our 2024 UDFA tracker.
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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