The Detroit Lions aren't hiding from the colossal expectations that surround their 2024 season.

Coming off a January trip to the NFC championship game where they fell one bad half short of reaching the Super Bowl, many expect the Lions to take the next step this year and play for their first title since 1957 – including general manager Brad Holmes.

Asked at his annual end-of-training camp news conference Thursday what his expectations are for the 2024 season, Holmes didn't leave any doubt.

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"For this season? To win the Super Bowl," he said.

The Lions will begin that quest in earnest next week when they host the Los Angeles Rams in a season opener that doubles as a rematch of last year's NFC wild-card game. They have one of the meatiest schedules in the NFL, but also one of the deepest rosters.

Here are more highlights from Holmes' 35-minute news conference:

Fromm vs. Sudfeld

Holmes said Jake Fromm won the No. 3 quarterback job (and a spot on the Lions' practice squad) with his strong performance in last week's exhibition finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Fromm completed 6 of 8 passes for 89 yards in the game after having limited reps in his two weeks of practice with the team.

“I tell young kids all the time, I told the kids at the combine, I spoke to them and in speaking to the quarterbacks, some guys they don’t want to throw, they don’t want to workout cause they’re not working with their guys, they want to wait till their orchestrated pro day and all that," Holmes said. "And same with all-star games to an extent, too, but when a quarterback can go out there and operate and be accurate with guys that he has not been working with, that’s impressive. And it wasn’t just that. Obviously, there’s a lot more other things that he showed in a short amount of time that was not seen on film, but he was impressive in a short time so that’s what did it for him."

Fromm signed midway through camp as an insurance option when Hendon Hooker was dealing with a brain injury, and most of camp it appeared that Nate Sudfeld would win the backup job and Hooker would make the roster as the team's third quarterback.

Holmes acknowledged that changed in the past week, and that Fromm – a player he said he had an affinity for dating back to his days at Georgia – helped rewrite his own narrative.

"He really kind of came in as just insurance," Holmes said. "And I give the kid credit. I mean, his mindset wasn't 'I'm coming in as insurance.' His mindset was coming in as 'I'm coming in to compete and do something with this opportunity.' But yeah, it was just that it was something that he did some things even before that game, during practice, but in the game when he got his opportunity, he just took for advantage of it."

'Confidence' in WR room

The Lions went light at receiver with just four on their 53-man roster, but Holmes expressed confidence in the group Thursday.

"We have confidence in what we have," he said, acknowledging some of that stems from the other parts the Lions have on offense including quarterback Jared Goff, tight end Sam LaPorta, running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery and a top offensive line.

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Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams and Kalif Raymond will serve as the Lions' top three receivers this year, undrafted rookie Isaiah Williams won the No. 4 job and the Lions added four veteran pass catchers to their practice squad: Allen Robinson, Tim Patrick, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Tom Kennedy. While Peoples-Jones and Kennedy were with the team in camp, Holmes addressed the new additions Thursday.

"Look, we know that those guys can play," he said. "I thought that it was really cool to see Tim Patrick after everything that he's done (missing the past two seasons with injuries), move around in the preseason, run routes, show that he can still drop his weight, snap down, get out of breaks and still catch the football. So we were excited to add him.

"And then Allen Robinson, he was a guy that we wanted to add in free agency a couple of years ago. Obviously a Detroit kid from here, but that's not the reason why he's here. But he's another guy that can step in and we know he can play. So right now it's all about getting them acclimated, just however fast that happens we will see. If it's one week, two weeks, three weeks, we'll see. But it gives us a lot of, I guess I'll say comfort, knowing that it's guys that have little stripes on the wall. They're good character guys, they're spoken highly of, so we know that they were going to be culture fits. It's just how quickly they can get acclimated.

Easier sell

Holmes said it was easier to get players to join the Lions' practice squad this summer than it was when he first took over as GM in 2021 because of how far the organization has come. The Lions went 3-13-1 in Holmes' first season, and 12-5 last year.

"I'd say for the first two years we had to do a lot of selling and convincing constantly just to try to get guys here," Holmes said. "And that's in probably each phase of player acquisition year round, whether it's this time of the year, whether it's the trade deadline, whether it's free agency, whether it's after the draft. But now it does feel good and it makes you feel good that we've done something and we've accomplished some good things that these agents want to send players here. Now, the wide receiver front, that was even easier conversations. Every agent of a wide receiver wanted to send (their guy here)."

Holmes said the same applied at kicker earlier this offseason, when Michael Badgley got hurt and the Lions were looking for competition for Jake Bates.

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The Lions, of course, did not add a kicker, and though Bates was erratic at times in the preseason, Holmes called that decision "one of the smartest moves that we did make" because it allowed Bates to take all the reps at kicker, work he needs to grow.

"The main thing, regardless of what we say about accuracy and all that kind of stuff, if he does miss one, he's not – it doesn't affect him, it doesn't bother him," Holmes said. "And that was a good trait that Badgley has as well. Being that he has that and he has the physical component and he's gotten these reps in training camp, then let's just see how far it can go."

UDFA 'kudos'

The Lions kept three undrafted rookies on their practice squad in Isaiah Williams, safety Loren Strickland and long snapper Hogan Hatten.

Assistant general manager Ray Agnew, who joined Holmes at Thursday's news conference, said all three "earned their spot" on the team, with Williams making plays throughout the preseason, and Strickland and Hatten impressing on specail teams.

"It wasn't given to them, they earned it, they deserved it," Agnew said. "But it is unusual for a rookie free agent to make a team like this, but those guys did. They earned it. And that's the great thing about this place. If you're the best player, you're going to be the one on the team. So kudos to those guys."

Nothing imminent with Alim

Holmes has made no secret about his desire to get a long-term contract done with Alim McNeill before the defensive tackle hits free agency next spring, but no deal is imminent as the season approaches.

"We haven't had anything intense going on from a dialogue standpoint," Holmes said. "But his camp knows that we want to get something done, but it's very in the infancy stages right now."

McNeill, 24, had a strong camp and is coming off his best season as a pro with five sacks in 13 games.

The Lions re-signed cornerstone players St. Brown, Goff, Penei Sewell and Taylor Decker this offseason, and Holmes said it's a philosophy of his to try to do deals early with players he wants to keep around.

Houston a 'different flavor'

James Houston had a quiet preseason, missing time with injury before securing a roster spot with a sack in the Lions' last preseason game. But talk about his being on the roster bubble might have been overblown.

Asked about Houston's role Thursday, Holmes spoke excitedly about the pass rush ability of "a young developing player" who missed most of his second season with injury. Houston had eight sacks in seven games as a rookie and has unique pass-rushing skills.

"He might not be the power rusher that Aidan is," Holmes said. "He's a completely different flavor, but that's what we like about him, too, as well. But yeah, and he had to kind of battle through some stuff after that first preseason game, so he missed that second one. But it was good to see him show what we know that he can do in that last one."

More tidbits

• Both Holmes and Agnew spoke of Jameson Williams' growth as a player, saying he's matured off the field and improved in areas like route running on it.

• The Lions will look to add a kicker to the practice squad in the coming days, likely a veteran with more experience than Bates, who hadn't kicked field goals since high school before playing for the Michigan Panthers this spring.

• Holmes said the Lions were "excited" to get waiver claim Trevor Nowaske back on their 53-man roster, after trying to sneak him through waivers late last season only to lose him to the Arizona Cardinals. Nowaske should be a key special-teams contributor for the Lions this fall.

• Speaking about Goff, Holmes called the Lions quarterback "the leader for us" and said nothing has changed about Goff since he signed his big deal this spring. "He didn't need a contract to go out there and do what he does on the field. He truly earned that and I have not seen it change in him. If anything, it's just, it's been better just because it's another year of the continuity."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes talks Jake Fromm, WRs and Super Bowl