Joe Schoen Prevented Lions GM Brad Holmes From Making Draft Mistake

The Detroit Lions were very interested in moving up in the second-round of the 2026 NFL Draft.

A video has surfaced, that was released by the New York Giants, that highlighted general manager Joe Schoen taking phone calls regarding pick No. 37.

Schoen is overheard entertaining offers on the phone and discussing them with new head coach John Harbaugh.

At one point, Schoen says “118, 128, and 157," indicating he liked the extra draft picks. The issue would have been also likely moving down from No. 37 to the Lions pick at No. 50 in the second-round.

In the end, the Giants stayed at No. 37, due to their strong desire to select cornerback Colton Hood.

Luckily for the Lions, they were able to retain their own picks. Holmes ended up selecting defensive end Derrick Moore, linebacker Jimmy Rolder and cornerback Keith Abney.

Holmes ended up trading picks Nos. 50 and 128 to the New York Jets to move up a total of six spots for Moore at pick No. 44.

Following Day 2, Holmes expressed Moore was the team's top defensive end on their board entering Day 2.

“I will say he was part of that cluster of guys that we were targeting today. He was already at top of mind going up. Just kind of paying attention to who was in front of us, who was behind us. It felt like, just right in that area, there were multiple edge rushers that were flying off," said Holmes. "Again, that’s the fascination of the Draft – you don’t know. Derrick might have been our No. 3 or No. 4 edge rusher, whatever it is, but today, he was our No. 1 for what was available. For other teams, he could have been their No. 7 or No. 8. You can’t worry about that, you’ve just got to get the guy that you want.”

Seeing Moore play at Michigan greatly assisted in the overall evaluation process.

“It’s very beneficial. It’s hard enough playing all the forecasting and projecting that we have to do when we’re evaluating these prospects, so when you see guys coming out of these programs like a Michigan or what we’ve done in the past at Alabama or Iowa or Georgia, those guys run NFL systems all the way down to the alignment and the assignment," said Holmes. "To be able to kind of take a little bit of weight off your back from a projection standpoint, and now you can hone in on what kind of physical and mental makeup they have for us.

"But it definitely helps because a lot of the things that Derrick did – it might not be the exact same, but I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of carryover.”

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