ALLEN PARK, Mich. — The Detroit Lions are in unfamiliar territory.
They have the No. 28 pick in the NFL draft, their latest slot in a decade.
They also have a lot of talent for a change, and that’s not cheap to keep.
That’s a credit to general manager Brad Holmes, and it’s also a challenge as he tries to retain more of the team’s best players for years to come.
Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Penei Sewell, David Montgomery, Alim McNeill and Derrick Barnes are signed through at least 2027.
Other key players are due to get paid by the Lions — or another team in free agency — after helping the team win a franchise-record 15 games last season and back-to-back NFC North titles.
Aidan Hutchinson, Kerby Joseph, Brian Branch, Sam LaPorta and Jameson Williams are among the players Holmes hopes will agree to stay with multiyear deals.
“We had so many of these young players that have been on rookie deals, and we’ve been enjoying the impact that they’ve all been bringing,” Holmes said. “But now, a bill is coming.
“What you spend this year is going to impact next year, even impacts 2027. So that’s the discipline that we have to adhere to.”
That makes it even more important for Holmes to hit more than miss in this year’s draft.
Needs
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Help on defense, especially edge rushers, and guard are top priorities.
Hutchinson is expected to make a full recovery from the broken leg that shortened last season, but another defensive end is needed to play on the opposite side.
The Lions also might want to make up for the loss of starting right guard Kevin Zeitler, who signed with the Tennessee Titans, and to challenge left guard Graham Glasgow for playing time with a rookie or two.
Detroit has not used a first-round pick on a guard or center since selecting Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow in 2018.
Don’t need
High picks would be surprising at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end or middle linebacker. Goff, Montgomery, Jahmyr Gibbs, St. Brown, Williams, LaPorta, Jack Campbell and Alex Anzalone make those positions strengths for the Lions.
Draft prep
The Lions didn’t make a big splash in free agency because they’re saving cap space to sign players such as Hutchinson, but they were able to make a pair of significant additions.
Shortly after losing veteran cornerback Carlton Davis in free agency, the Lions signed D.J. Reed to a three-year, $48 million contract. Two days later, they added run-stuffing defensive tackle Roy Lopez to join McNeill and DJ Reader.
“We actually were able to do more than what I thought we were going to be able to do heading into it,” Holmes said.
Making moves
The Lions have made 13 trades during the draft in four years under Holmes, who has moved up nine times to take players he wanted and down four times to acquire extra picks.
At first
The Lions and Cincinnati Bengals are the only teams to make one or more first-round selections in every draft since the seven-round era started in 1994.
Holmes might be tempted to trade his late first-round pick to move down to the second round and acquire additional picks.
Detroit has one pick in each of the first four rounds, none in the fifth and two in the seventh.
