The men who built the Detroit Lions into Super Bowl contenders will be around for at least another four years to see if they can finish the job.
The Lions announced on Thursday contract extensions with general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell, expected moves after the team's renaissance 12-5 season. Both deals run through 2027.
The Lions won their first division title in 30 years last season and won a playoff game for the first time since 1991. They beat the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round, 24-23, and followed with a 31-23 divisional playoff win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They then lost a 17-point halftime lead to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game in a 34-31 defeat.
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"We are thrilled to have Brad and Dan under contract for the next four seasons,” Lions owner Sheila Hamp said in a statement released by the team. “They have been the driving force behind the rebuild of our football team and the success that we have enjoyed. The continuity they provide for our football program will continue to be the key to our future success on the field."
Holmes and Campbell were hired in parallel searches after the 2020 season and have worked together to construct one of the best rosters in the NFL.
Holmes, who had two years left on his original contract, traded Matthew Stafford to the Rams for Jared Goff and three draft picks in one of his first acts as GM, and has added cornerstone players Penei Sewell, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Aidan Hutchinson through the draft.
Goff, St. Brown and Sewell all could get long-term extensions this offseason.
Campbell, who had three years left on his original deal, has gone 24-16 as Lions coach since an 0-10-1 start. He's ranked among the NFL leaders in win probability added in each of his three seasons, and finished third in Coach of the Year voting for 2023.
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Holmes was named Executive of the Year by the Pro Football Writers Association, an unofficial NFL award.
"It really speaks to the stability and how much confidence Sheila has in Dan and Brad," Lions linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin said. "I think it’s dope they get a little bit richer."
Though Holmes and Campbell had never met before the Lions' search, they've built a strong bond in Detroit.
Holmes wore a sweatshirt with Campbell's picture on it at last year's draft — "This is my brother, this is my guy," he said — and Campbell donned a T-shirt his wife had made with a picture of Holmes a few weeks later.
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Campbell said in January he knew he and Holmes would hit it off "the first phone call we ever had."
"For a first phone call for somebody you don’t know, yet we had mutual contacts. We have people that both of us, we have mutual friends that we have a lot of trust in and it was – I could tell it was it felt like it was going to be right," Campbell said. "And then once I got around him, it was, man I – you could – I could feel that early. It’s one of those, 'Well, if this is who he is and this doesn’t change, we’re going to be just fine.' And sure enough, he’s everything that I thought he was going to be from those first meetings."
The Lions also announced a multi-year extension Thursday for Chris Spielman, special assistant to the president/CEO and chairperson.
Spielman, along with Hamp, president Rod Wood and chief operating officer Mike Disner, led the coaching search that brought Holmes and Campbell to Detroit, and performs a variety of roles for the team.
“I could not be more proud of the work that Brad, Dan and Chris have done for our organization,” Wood said in a statement released by the team. “They have selflessly worked together to build a winning culture within the Lions. I am excited to continue working with them to create the sustained success that we envision for the team, our fans, and the city of Detroit."
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Contact Dave Birkett atdbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him@davebirkett.
