Former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis is one of the greatest to ever play the position. He is a First ballot Hall of Famer who won one Super Bowl with the Ravens. According to Eliot Wolf on a recent episode of The Adam Schefter Podcast, Ray Lewis was almost a member of the Green Bay Packers.
During the 1996 draft, the Packers had Ray Lewis on the phone and were ready to pick him at 27th overall. However, moments before they could, the Ravens selected Lewis pick 26. Patriots de facto GM Eliot Wolf was in the Packers war room that day and remembers it well.
“John Michaels was one, tackle from USC, that one didn’t work out. That’s actually an interesting story because they were getting ready to draft Ray Lewis,” Wolf said. “Baltimore picked him right before, you know the pick before, and [the Packers] ended up picking John Michaels.”
Wolf went on to describe what he remembered about the situation in the Packers war room.
“There was some disappointment,” Wolf recalled, “because they actually had Ray on the phone, they were talking to Ray, and Baltimore was still on the clock. They thought Ray was one of the best players in the draft.”
Wolf also shed some light on why Ray Lewis slid to the bottom of the first round in the first place.
“That’s easy to say now, he’s one of the best linebackers of all time. First ballot Hall of Famer and all that. But he was seen as kind of an undersized middle linebacker back in the day.”
Ray Lewis finished his career with 2.050 total tackles, 41.5 sacks, 19 forced fumbles and fumble recoveries, and 31 interceptions.
Did the Lions rob the Packers of Terrion Arnold in the 2024 NFL Draft?
The Packers may have been robbed of a late first-round pick again in the 2024 NFL Draft. However, this time they probably didn’t lose out on an all-time great.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Arnold was a top target for the Packers.
“It’s possible the Lions jumped an NFC North rival for a top corner,” Fowler wrote. “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.”
The Packers selected offensive lineman Jordan Morgan out of Arizona with the 25th overall pick.
It is no surprise that the Packers were possibly interested in Arnold. Adding Arnold next to Jaire Alexander would have solidified the Packers as having the best secondary, and possibly best entire defense, in the NFC North. Instead, Detroit likely found their new CB1 and the Packers added offensive line help for Jordan Love.
Weirdly enough, this trade situation is the opposite of what occurred in the 2018 NFL Draft. That time it was the Packers who selected Jaire Alexander two picks before the Lions. Alexander has been sensational in Green Bay, so it is fair to say that it worked out well for the Packers. Perhaps the Lions were hoping to capture that same magic by selecting Arnold.
The Packers will suit up against the Lions twice in 2024 and will get to see for themselves how good Terrion Arnold becomes.
