NFL Draft rumor: Detroit Lions were prepared to trade up for other 1st rounder

The Detroit Lions didn’t expect Terrion Arnold to fall to them, but they did have a different trade-up scenario in mind.

After Day 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft, Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes told media he was shocked that Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold was still on the board, which led them to the aggressive move of trading up five spots to draft him at 24th overall.

“We knew it was an offensive-heavy draft, that’s what we did know. But we didn’t quite know was that those defenders would get pushed to that point,” Holmes said. “Especially a guy like Terrion. But we couldn’t be more ecstatic or thrilled how it went.”

It turns out the Lions didn’t have to adjust their original plan too much. According to Sports Illustrated reporter Albert Breer, Detroit was ready to take someone else in a trade up.

“Detroit had actually laid groundwork for a trade up—I believe Missouri DE Darius Robinson was the target—which made it easy to pivot and get aggressive in going up from No. 29 to No. 24 to land a falling Arnold,” Breer wrote this week.

While this reads as partial speculation from Beer, it does vibe with what Holmes said at the end of Day 1 of the draft .

“I didn’t think (Arnold) was going to be there,” Holmes said. “Really, didn’t think he was going to be there calling late teens, but (I was) really trying and thinking we were going to have to settle for a different player at a different position but still trade up.”

Robinson would have made a lot of sense, too. He was a high-character defender who fits the mold of their defensive end position opposite Aidan Hutchinson: a good edge setter and run defender who can provide some interior pass rush on third down.

Robinson ended up being drafted 27th overall to the Arizona Cardinals. So Detroit would have had to, indeed, traded up from their original spot (29th) to get a shot at him.

But that is a different timeline to think about, because Terrion Arnold is a Detroit Lion and it appears the team couldn’t be happier.