Lions GM says they considered a tag-and-trade with wide receiver Kenny Golladay

At the end of the day, Detroit just allowed Golladay to choose his next NFL home

Star wide receiver Kenny Golladay has found a new home with the New York Giants, but the fact that the Detroit Lions allowed him to test the open market in free agency was a big surprise. Many believed Golladay was a prime candidate to receive the franchise tag with the Lions entering a massive rebuild, but they decided against it. During a Monday meeting with reporters, Lions general manager Brad Holmes said that the Lions did consider a tag-and-trade with Golladay, but decided not to with how the market was shaping up in free agency, and with the options available in the 2021 NFL Draft. 

"Yeah, we did discuss it," Holmes said, via Kyle Meinke of MLive.com. "We discuss it and we mulled over it. Guys, I wasn't joking when I said he was at the forefront of my mind throughout the whole process. But we did discuss those options.

"There is some difficulty in terms of forecasting that's involved, so that's kind of why you probably may see (sign-and-trades) more prevalent in the NBA versus the NFL. It is possible, you can do it, but with how the market was shaping out with the depth, both in free agency and in the draft, we just felt to go the route of not tagging him."

Golladay played in just five games this past year, as COVID-19 and then a hip injury forced him to miss the majority of the season, but he did put up career-high numbers in 2019, as he caught 65 passes for 1,190 yards and 11 touchdowns. Golladay received plenty of interest in free agency, and opted to sign a four-year, $72 million deal with the Giants earlier this month. The deal reportedly has a max value of $76 million and includes $40 million guaranteed. Golladay's average annual value of $18 million and total guaranteed money made him the clear-cut No. 1 wideout on the market, and one of the top free agents available this offseason, according to Spotrac. 

With Golladay and Marvin Jones gone, Detroit went out and signed Tyrell Williams, Breshad Perriman and Kalif Raymond to help new quarterback Jared Goff. The Lions also hold the No. 7 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and could use it on a top wideout, as many of our CBS NFL Draft writers believe they will.