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Lions' NFC North rival really wanted Terrion Arnold per NFL Insider
Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Detroit Lions scored big when they drafted Terrion Arnold with the 24th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft in late April. Not only did they get the best cornerback in the draft long after he was expected to be picked much earlier, they may have got him to the dismay of the Green Bay Packers per NFL insider Jeremy Fowler.

"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."

That really tracks. Going into the draft, the Packers were expected to draft either an offensive lineman or a cornerback early in the draft. When all the offensive lineman started flying off the board, the expectation from a lot of Green Bay fans was that the Packers would go cornerback since they were all pushed down the board. 

Quinyon Mitchell went to the Eagles at 22 and then Jags took Brian Thomas at 23. The Cowboys were expected to select a pass rusher or offensive lineman, so the Packers were sitting there with Arnold in their sites. Then the Lions jumped them. 

The Packers had a strange draft. They had a chance at Cooper DeJean, Ennis Rakestraw, Nate Wiggins, Kool-Aid McKinstry and Kamari Lassiter and they just went away from all of them. 

The Lions got two corners the Packers had pre-draft meetings with in both Arnold and Rakestraw. 

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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