Brad Holmes made a wise early choice, as seen by the list of free agent flops.

Brad Holmes made a wise early choice, as seen by the list of free agent flops.

Brad Holmes made a wise early choice, as seen by the list of free agent flops.

Brad Holmes is a great general manager—some may even argue the greatest in the league—as time

has shown. But it was definitely not able to be known when he was employed by the Detroit Lions in

January of 2021.

Matthew Stafford made it clear he wanted to be dealt at the beginning of Detroit’s next rebuild.

According to all accounts, he was free to choose his destination, and a chance encounter with Sean

McVay on a Mexican vacation helped him land a contract with the Los Angeles Rams.

At the start of a rebuild, every significant free agency commitment must make sense, and the Lions

naturally had the franchise tag available for Golladay if they so desired.

Golladay finally signed a four-year, $72 million contract with the New York Giants after the Lions

made little to no attempt to retain him. The Giants’ choice to allow Golladay to enter the market

appeared favorable at first, and things only got worse from there. Two years into his deal, in March

2023, they let him go, incurring a $14.7 million dead money hit in the process.

In 14 games during his first season, Golladay caught 37 passes for 521 yards and 0 touchdowns for

the Giants. However, considering that he finished with six receptions for 81 yards across 12 games

(63 of his 261 offensive snaps in a meaningless Week 18 game), that was a strong output in

comparison to 2022, when a new administration had arrived in New York.

Prior to the start of the previous season, Golladay was not in the league and was only made public

with rumors of a workout with the New York Jets. It looks like his NFL career is over.

Dallas Robinson of Pro Football Network has compiled a list of the top ten worst NFL free agent signings ever. The Giants signing Golladay is ranked seventh on the list, but there are some rather clear ones that are worse.

To respect Stafford’s want to avoid becoming involved in another reconstruction, Holmes was put in a difficult situation. The first significant move that would demonstrate his abilities as general manager was letting Golladay walk with little opposition—not even a franchise tag flier to see if he might make a strong comeback in 2021. Though we don’t need any more proof, it’s still good to have it emphasized in light of a significant error made by the Giants.