Brandon Sosna, senior director of football administration, became the second Detroit Lions front office staffer to join the Washington Commanders this summer, doing so last month. Sosna was a key figure in contract discussions, so his impact on the extensions signed this offseason with Amon-Ra St. Brown, Penei Sewell, and Jared Goff cannot be overstated.
According to ESPN’s Seth Walder, the Lions are hiring Charlie Adkins as their new Senior Director of Football Administration. Adkins has spent the last seven years with the Arizona Cardinals, most recently as manager of football analytics and research. Prior to being in the analytics and research department, where he spent the last five years, Adkins was a football operations analyst for the Cardinals.
Lions hire Charlie Adkins to replace Brandon Sosna
Throughout his time with the Cardinals, Adkins contributed in a variety of ways. He gave then-head coach Kliff Kingsbury analytical data to help with play calling, and he was portrayed as a significant figure in the Cardinals’ war room last year. Adkins is seen helping to complete their deal with the Lions around the 4:25 point of the linked video.
The Cardinals’ general manager, Monti Ossenfort, acknowledged Adkins’ assistance in their first-round maneuvering during the 2023 draft.
“Some of the guys that I leaned on heavily, Dave Sears, Charlie Adkins and Rob Kissel did an unbelievable job of prepping us for the trade scenarios and even more so when it came time once we did the trade back,” Ossenfort said.
The Cardinals and Lions front offices are having a little back and forth when it comes to hiring each other’s people. Arizona hired assistant general manager Dave Sears away from the Lions last offseason, while the Lions hired director of health and performance Brett Fischer after he had a long tenure with the Cardinals. Now Adkins is also leaving Arizona for Detroit.
