Notes: Lions president Rod Wood takes clever shot at Packers

According to the City of Green Bay’s estimates, this year’s attendance totals won’t even come close to Detroit’s last year—and Lions president Rod Wood let ‘em know.

The 2025 NFL Draft is just a few days away and while Green Bay is hosting this year’s event, Lions president Rod Wood isn’t too concerned Detroit’s hosting job last year will be rivaled.

Last year, Detroit blew draft attendance records out of the water with a whopping 775,000 people attending the 2024 NFL Draft in the Motor City. The previous record was 600,000 set in Nashville during the 2019 NFL Draft.

That leaves some big shoes for Green Bay to fill, and apparently Rod Wood is confident Detroit’s record is safe.

“There’s no way Green Bay will come close. They’ll finish second or—as I said to Brad offstage—third, like they did last year,” Wood told WXYZ’s Brad Galli at an event for the Detroit Economic Club this week.

It’s a nice jab at the Green Bay Packers , who have finished third in the NFC North in two out of the last three seasons.

Per The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman , Green Bay’s tourism information center is estimating 250,000 will visit the draft over three days. That number is based on hotel availability, transportation options, metro areas within a drivable distance like Chicago, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis, etc.

The event is expected to generate about $20 million for the Green Bay economy and $94 million for the entire state’s economy, Schneidman reports. For comparison, the 2024 NFL Draft generated $213.6 million for Detroit and Southeast Michigan. People from all 50 states and more than 20 different countries attended the NFL Draft in Detroit—with a third of the visitors traveling over 100 miles—and accounted for $161.3 million of the overall impact.

And onto the rest of your notes.

• “Keeping the offensive line an elite strength remains a top priority in Detroit, and that’s not changing anytime soon.” MLive.com’s Benjamin Raven releases the fifth edition of his series identifying the Lions’ draft needs. This time he’s analyzing the offensive line.

• The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner used metrics to rank teams based on how much value they got out of their recent draft picks and the Lions came out on top. ($)

• The Detroit News ranks the best picks the Lions have made at each first round draft slot. ($)

• Detroit-born rapper and actress Kash Doll is doing her best to keep Za’Darius Smith in Detroit in this cute social media video.

• Applications are open for “Touchdown in Your Town,” where Michigan high school football and cheer spirit programs can apply for resources like uniforms, equipment, and more. The last day to submit applications is May 29.