Back-to-back NFC North crowns have the Detroit Lions feeling rather bellicose.
With the 2025 NFL Draft set to kick off this week from Green Bay, Lions team president Rod Wood took a jab at the division rival on Monday when discussing his desire to bring the draft back to Detroit one day.
"Trying to get the NFL to consider bringing it back (to Detroit) because I don't think they'll ever top it," Wood said, via Marlowe Alter of the Detroit Free Press. "There's no way Green Bay will come close. They'll finish second or as I said to (reporter) Brad (Galli), they'll finish third like they did last year."
The setting -- at a draft luncheon hosted at the Detroit Economic Club – highlights the comfort in ribbing a rival. It seems good-natured, although Packers fans won't likely take it that way. Those offended Packer Backers might point to their four Lombardi Trophies when the Lions have yet to make a Super Bowl as the ultimate trump card.
The Lions finished 15-2 last season, earning their second consecutive NFC North title, the first time they've won back-to-back division titles since 1952-1953.
Detroit hosted the 2024 NFL Draft last season, setting a record for the three-day event with over 775,000 fans, with a Day 1 attendance of over 275,000. Discover Green Bay, the city's tourism branch, recently told The Athletic it estimates 250,000 people will attend the draft this season.
It's been an offseason of absorbing shots for Green Bay. The first came from ex-Lions offensive coordinator-turned-Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson, taking a jab at Matt LaFleur. Now came the cross from Wood. In the end, Green Bay's ultimate counter will come on the Lambeau Field gridiron this fall.
