Packers reportedly scared Lions into making certain draft picks

Talk about a move that was both offensive and defensive, at the same time.
Detroit Lions, Terrion Arnold
Detroit Lions, Terrion Arnold / Todd Rosenberg/GettyImages
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When it was all said and done, the Detroit Lions had plenty of mixed reviews in regards to their 2024 NFL Draft class.

But, regardless of how you feel about the latter half of the draft, Detroit certainly came out swinging. Landing two of the top corners in the class, with their first two picks, had to feel like a significant victory for this Lions team. After all, Detroit needed to address the corner spot in a big way -- and they did.

When it came to their first-round pick, Terrion Arnold out of Alabama, the Lions' victory could actually and up being two-fold.

According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the Lions apparently jumped ahead of a rival NFC North club to snag Arnold.

"As Detroit moved from No. 29 to 24 to snag corner Terrion Arnold, the Packers at No. 25 were among the teams that Arnold's camp had firmly on the radar entering the 20s. The belief is Green Bay had Arnold rated highly," Fowler wrote.

The Lions did what they could to kill two birds with one stone

So, while adding talent to a position the Lions desperately needed to improve, they also single-handedly took a player out from beneath the nose of the Green Bay Packers. Then, the Packers selected Arizona offensive tackle Jordan Morgan in what many believe was a bit of a reach, as Morgan could have gone in the second round.

What's most interesting about this tidbit from Fowler is the fact that Green Bay went on to ignore the cornerback position until Round 7, when they selected Penn State cornerback Kalen King.

If the Packers really wanted Arnold, you would have thought they'd go after Clemson's Nate Wiggins, who was taken just five picks later by the Baltimore Ravens at pick no. 30.

Instead, they'll roll with Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes on the outside. For the Packers' sake, they better hope they can depend on both of them to stay healthy, otherwise they'll be in trouble. That defense has improved in some ways since the start of the 2023 season, but their secondary is certainly an area where fans had hoped they'd improve even more.

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