On Wednesday, the NFL announced the dates of all 32 teams’ organized team activities (OTA) practices, including rookie minicamp. But there was one significant oddity for the Detroit Lions. They are the only team in the entire league who won’t be holding a rookie minicamp.
It isn’t breaking news the Lions aren’t holding rookie minicamp this year. The Detroit Free Press was the first to report this last week. However, with all 32 schedules out for OTAs, it’s now clear Detroit is the only one skipping out this year.
As for why, Lions general manager Brad Holmes was asked after Day 3 of the NFL Draft, and his answer didn’t provide much clarity. He simply noted that they have determined that there are more valuable ways to spend their time, as they looking to adjust and improve their process.
“I told you guys at the end of the season, me and Dan (Campbell) were going to take a long, hard look at everything single thing from top to bottom and that’s what we did,” Holmes said. “Those kind of involvements or efficiencies, those came about from that. We’re not doing things just to do it just because you feel like you have to do it. You can’t be scared when you want to try something new that you think is going to be better for the football team, and so that’s what we did. And that’s why some things are, from a calendar standpoint, look like they’re removed, but there are other things that are going to take their place that we feel are going to be more beneficial for us.”
To be clear, the Lions aren’t losing anything massive. Rookie minicamps are either two or three days long, and mostly include classroom work. On-field drills are non-contact, meaning most of practices are run at slower speeds. Detroit will also have three sets of OTAs that the rookie can attend. The dates for those OTAs are as follow:
This is the just the latest in offseason changes the Lions are going through. Detroit also opted not to hold a local pro day for the draft, Holmes did not attend the owners meetings, and the Lions will not be participating in any joint practices during training camp.