We predict what the Detroit Lions will do with some of their most-important free agents in the 2023 offseason.

During his Tuesday end-of-season Press Conference, Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes noted that he doesn’t expect the team’s free agency strategy to change, despite the fact that they’ll have more resources and a better base roster to work with. That strategy, in the past, has been focused on retaining players.

And given the culture the Lions have created, Detroit is a popular destination—especially for the players who have had a taste by being on the roster. According to Holmes, several of the Lions players who are set to become free agents this offseason have expressed a desire to come back.

“(The) majority of them, they expressed interest in wanting to come back,” Holmes said. “But I don’t ignore the reality of there’s other elements of that business that we’re going to have to deal with. But it was cool to hear because those guys believe in what we’re doing and they believe it’s the right way. They like how they’re treated, they can be themselves and it was just cool to hear that they think that we’re doing it the right way. But yeah, we’ll just see how it goes, but hopefully, we can get a lot of those guys back.”

The question is how many of those guys will the Lions want back? Several of them—Jamaal Williams, DeShon Elliott, Alex Anzalone, Isaiah Buggs, etc.—had significant roles. But at what point do the Lions considering upgrading?

That is one of our main topics on this week’s mailbag podcast. That discussion starts at the 11:00 mark of the podcast.

Here are the other topics we discuss on this week’s show:

• We stunt on the Packers for a little bit (2:00)
• Biggest takeaways from Brad Holmes’ press conference (5:15)
• How surprised/impressed were you by Dan Campbell’s declining of the offsides (18:10)
• Could the Lions give Jared Goff an extension this offseason? (22:00)
• Do the Lions have any 2023 starting outside cornerbacks currently on the roster? (25:45)
• Will Jeff Okudah earn a second contract with the Lions? What about his fifth-year option? (27:20)
• Is there any hope for Levi Onwuzurike or Ifeatu Melifonwu turning things around? (32:05)
• Which, if any, of the Okwaras will be back next season? (37:00)
• Charles Harris: cap casualty or sticking around? (39:25)