How did Detroit Lions become Super Bowl contender in 3 years? 10 moves paved the way.

When Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes took over as Detroit Lions coach and general manager in January of 2021, they inherited one of the worst rosters in the NFL and launched a rebuild that three years later has made the Lions one of the best teams in football.

Campbell said recently the rebuild has largely followed the timeline he thought it would three years ago.

“Brad and I both felt like we should be competing for the division in Year 3,” Campbell said the day after Christmas. “We felt very comfortable about that. … We felt like in Year 2, we could do it, but we had to do everything right, every little thing right and we could — and we got off to a little rough start, we weren’t doing every little thing right and then by the end of the year we were and playing pretty good football. But, no, I’m not surprised with where we’re at, at this point.”

The Lions won their first division title in 30 years and will host playoff game Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams for the first time since January of 1994. They tied the franchise record for most wins in a regular season (12) and stand three victories from playing in their first ever Super Bowl.

How’d they do it?

Here are the 10 most important moves, ranked in descending order, Campbell and Holmes have made since their hires that have helped the Lions get here:

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10. Letting Jamaal Williams walk in free agency

Williams had a nice two-year run in Detroit. He rushed for 1,066 yards and a franchise-record 17 touchdowns last season, and the Lions were set to bring him back in free agency last spring.

But when they couldn’t agree on a deal early in the free agent negotiating period, they pivoted to David Montgomery for a similar contract rather than overpay Williams or get left with a chair they didn’t want when the music stopped.

Montgomery had 1,015 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns this season, and while it’s possible Williams — who had 306 yards rushing and a single TD with the New Orleans Saints — or another back would have had similar success, the reality is Holmes made a decisive, unemotional move that bolstered the team.

9. Signing Graham Glasgow

Not every free agent signing has to be a big one, and very few of the Lions’ additions under Holmes and Campbell have been headline-grabbing moves. They claimed Josh Reynolds off waivers from the Tennessee Titans in 2021, added John Cominsky off waivers from the Atlanta Falcons the following spring and signed cornerback Kindle Vildor first to their practice squad this fall. Combined, those three have started 26 games this season and all will play important roles against the Rams this week.

Signing Graham Glasgow to a one-year contract this spring after he was released by the Denver Broncos is a similar low-risk move that’s paid huge dividends. The Lions brought Glasgow in as veteran insurance for their interior offensive line. He’s started 15 games at three different positions, has stabilized the right guard spot in Hal Vaitai’s absence and finished second in ESPN’s run block win rate stat in the regular season.

Offensive lines are only as good as their weakest link, and Glasgow’s addition has ensured the Lions have stayed strong up front.

It’s worth mentioning the Lions’ front office here, too, and specifically their pro personnel department for finding some of the aforementioned gems. The last “move” I cut from this list was Holmes’ hiring and retention of his pro and college scouting staffs because I couldn’t boil it down to one move.  But all three members of the Lions’ pro department — director of pro scouting Rob Lohman, assistant director Joe Kelleher and pro scout Justin Licker — were holdovers from the previous regime that many new GMs would have been quick to push out the door.

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8. Signing Alex Anzalone

The Lions wanted a familiar face for Aaron Glenn’s defense when they started this rebuild so they made Anzalone one of their first free agent signings in the spring of 2021.

Anzalone played well enough that season to earn another one-year deal in 2022 before signing a long-term contract last spring. He set career-highs with 78 tackles and seven pass deflections his first year in Detroit, but no one knew if he was a good player or just the best player on a bad defense.

Now, Anzalone is in the midst of his third straight career year and is the perfect mentor for young linebackers Jack Campbell and Derrick Barnes. He has a team-high 129 tackles and 12 quarterback hits this season, and is one of the locker room’s most respected leaders.

7. Re-signing Frank Ragnow

This was a no-brainer at the time, but it still ranks highly among the most important moves of the past three seasons.

Ragnow was coming off his first Pro Bowl selection in 2020 and entering the last year of his rookie deal (with the fifth-year option still to go), and Holmes struck early to sign him to a long-term extension shortly after the 2021 draft.

Ragnow missed most of that first season post-extension with a toe injury and the ailment’s continued to plague him the past two years, but he’s still one of the best centers in the NFL and his presence has been invaluable for the Lions offense. Health-permitting, Ragnow should man the pivot for the Lions for the final three years of a deal that could soon look outdated.

6. Promoting Ben Johnson to offensive coordinator

You could make the case this should rank higher on the list, but I’m a Jimmys and Joes over Xs and Os kind of guy, so I settled on here for giving offensive play calling duties to Johnson after the disastrous 2021 season.

In two years on the job (plus a cameo as pass game coordinator after Anthony Lynn’s demotion in Year 1), Johnson has proven to be one of the bright young offensive minds in the NFL. The Lions finished top-five in scoring (fifth), passing (second), rushing (fifth), total (second) and red zone (third) offense this year, and Johnson has designed a creative playbook that’s gotten the most out of quarterback Jared Goff.

The Lions have good enough offensive personnel to make a lot of play callers look good, but Johnson is a huge part of the reason they are dangerous at just about everything they do.

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5. Trading down from No. 6 in the 2023 draft

Four of the next five moves on this list are draft-related, which says everything about the Lions’ rebuild.

After the Seattle Seahawks took top cornerback Devon Witherspoon at No. 5, the Lions traded down from No. 6 in the draft to No. 12 and picked up Pick No. 34 early in the second round. The Lions also sent a third-round pick (No. 81) to the Arizona Cardinals and got No. 168 in return, but they played the percentages in a draft light on top-end talent but with good overall depth and hit it big.

At No. 12, they took running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who had 1,261 scrimmage yards this season. Twenty-two picks later, they grabbed tight end Sam LaPorta, who had 86 catches for 889 yards. Whether the Lions got enough “value” for the sixth pick won’t be known for a few years, but they wouldn’t be where they are today without Gibbs and LaPorta.

4. Drafting Aidan Hutchinson

The Lions might want to send a thank-you note to the Jacksonville Jaguars for this one, but they were more than happy to take Hutchinson with the No. 2 pick in the 2022 draft.

Hutchinson was widely regarded as the best player in his class, but the Jaguars rolled the dice on Travon Walker at No. 1 because of his upside. Walker had a fine sophomore season with 10 sacks in 17 games, but Hutchinson has 21 sacks and 48 quarterback hits in his two years in Detroit and has outperformed both Walker and the draft’s other top pass rusher, Kayvon Thibodeaux, in both categories.

Most importantly, he’s playing the best football of his career right now as the Lions are entering the playoffs.

3. Drafting Penei Sewell

We might look back on the 2021 draft as one of the best of all-time. There were good quarterbacks (Trevor Lawrence) and receivers (Ja’Marr Chase) and pass rushers (Micah Parsons) and cornerbacks (Pat Surtain), and the Lions got the best offensive lineman available.

Sewell is headed to his second straight Pro Bowl and should be a first-team All-Pro selection at right tackle this season. He’s a monster in the run game and ranked sixth this season in ESPN’s pass block win rate among offensive tackles.

Holmes had too many good options to go wrong with his first ever draft pick, but the fact is he took one of the best linemen in football and made him a cornerstone piece of everything the Lions are about.

2. Drafting Amon-Ra St. Brown

As good a pick as Sewell was at No. 7 overall, St. Brown is the best choice the Lions have made in their three drafts under Holmes and Campbell.

The 112th overall pick of the 2021 draft, St. Brown is a top-10 receiver in the NFL who’s steadily improved in his three seasons and set career-highs this year with 119 catches, 1,515 yards and 10 touchdowns.

The Lions may have a run-first offense that thrives in the play-action game, but they have a difference maker at receiver in St. Brown and hitting on that fourth-round pick three years ago has afforded them so much flexibility when it comes to building their roster.

1. The Matthew Stafford trade

It’s no surprise this is No. 1, but there’s no overstating the magnitude of the deal Holmes made with his old team the Rams after less than three weeks on the job.

The Lions traded Stafford for Goff and three draft picks — two of them No. 1 choices — and they used that return to turbo-charge their rebuild. They took Ifeatu Melifonwu with the Rams’ third-round choice in 2021. They packaged L.A.’s first-round pick in 2022 to move up and draft Jameson Williams. They used the Rams’ original No. 6 pick as another trade chip last spring. And Goff has proven to be much more than the bridge quarterback most thought the Lions were acquiring at the time of the deal.

Goff and Stafford will square off for the second time since the trade in Sunday’s playoff game at Ford Field, and none of it would have been possible without the deal.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

Next up: Rams

Matchup: Lions (12-5) vs. L.A. Rams (10-7), NFC wild-card playoff.

Kickoff: 8 p.m. Sunday; Ford Field, Detroit.

TV/radio: NBC; WXYT-FM (97.1).

Line: Lions by 3.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions rebuilt into a contender with these 10 big moves