2024 NFL Draft: Lions Jump Packers For Cornerback, Gain Retribution For 2018

The Green Bay Packers jumped the Detroit Lions for Jaire Alexander in 2018 and they returned the favor during the 2024 NFL Draft.

Terrion Arnold, a cornerback from the University of Alabama, shows off his Detroit Lions jersey with / Eric Seals / USA TODAY NETWORK

The NFL Draft is such a fascinating event. There are a lot of stories that come from the three-day event and some of them have roots that are deeper than a single annual selection meeting.

The Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers have roots that date back to 1930, which is nearly 200 games against each other. There is a lot of bad blood between the two franchises and they have had some wars in recent years.

The Lions were set to pick four selections after the Packers at 29th overall, but struck a trade with the Dallas Cowboys to acquire the 24th overall pick. In doing so, they jumped their bitter rival for a cornerback just like they had done to them in 2018.

It's possible the Lions jumped an NFC North rival for a top corner.

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.

Green Bay's star corner, Jaire Alexander, was a 2018 first-round selection at No. 18, two picks ahead of Detroit. The Lions got Frank Ragnow with that pick, so things worked out well for both teams. But at least Detroit prevented Green Bay from potentially getting another star corner. Detroit coveted Arnold's man-coverage traits and all-around game.

- Jeremy Fowler

That is wild to think about. It also helps that Arnold was my third-ranked player in the 2024 NFL Draft class. His skills as a defensive back are impressive in many ways and will make a big difference to the Lions secondary.

Plus, they can hold it over the Packers' heads.