“I’m ecstatic. This has been a labor of love,” said Emily Griffin, Detroit Lions Senior Vice President of Marketing and Brand. “We have the best fans in the NFL. We know that they’re so excited and so proud to see their city on the grand stage and see the football universe converge here, and so if we can give them an awesome time in here, it will be a success, and we’re looking forward to it.”
As fans walk in, they will be introduced like Lions football players on game days on Sundays.
“Over three days, we expect over 20,000 fans to come to downtown Detroit and to give them an opportunity to feel what it’s like to be at the stadium on game day when they may not be able to,” Griffin said.
This Detroit Lions fan experience is free for everyone. Fans can register or download the NFL OnePass app.
The event runs Thursday and Friday from noon to 10 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
With just a little over 24 hours until round one of the 2024 NFL Draft (8 p.m. EST Thursday), Detroit is reportedly exploring the possibility of facilitating a draft-night trade. According to Sports Illustrated NFL insider Albert Breer, the Lions are one of the various NFL franchises interested in trading up from their current spot in the first round.
“Among the teams exploring a trade up are the Detroit Lions, who are sitting at 29,” Breer wrote. “After two consecutive years of multiple first-round picks (which brought them Aidan Hutchinson, Jameson Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs and Jack Campbell), the Lions are likely looking for an edge opposite Hutchinson, or perhaps another corner.”
If the Lions trade up and go the EDGE route, UCLA’s Laiatu Latu, who is presently being mocked anywhere from No. 8 overall (to the Atlanta Falcons) to No. 27 overall (to the Arizona Cardinals), would make a lot of sense. The 2023 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year recorded 10.5 sacks in his final season with the Bruins, and would be a solid running mate for Detroit Pro Bowl EDGE Aidan Hutchinson.
Now, if Brad Holmes & Co. traded up to acquire a cornerback, both Alabama’s Terrion Arnold and Toledo’s Quinyon Mitchell, in my opinion, would be worthwhile targets. Arnold is being projected to go as high as No. 12 overall to the Denver Broncos, while Mitchell is being mocked as high as No. 10 overall to the N.Y. Jets. Both recorded Pro Football Focus overall grades north of 88.0 in 2023, and would immediately bolster Detroit’s secondary.
Mitchell, for one, recorded a PFF overall mark of 91.5 in his final season at Toledo, to go along with a highly impressive 91.6 coverage grade.
Dan Campbell, meanwhile, has added fuel to the trade-up speculation with his recent comments about the being “prepared to do anything” in the first round.
