The Detroit Lions got Jammie Robinson in a pretty rare way

OK, this one was confusing to find out, but it's interesting if you're into rarities. On the surface, it looks like the Detroit Lions poached Jammie Robinson off the Kansas City Chiefs' practice squad. Essentially, since practice squad contracts are week-to-week, teams can go ahead and sign players off other teams' practice squads.

When that happens, the team that the player got poached off of will terminate that player's practice squad contract if they choose not to match the deal or sign that player to their 53-man roster. This happened a few years ago with Trevor Nowaske. The Lions moved him up to the main roster to cancel the poach.

That's not what happened in this instance. Jammie Robinson terminated his practice squad contract and left the Chiefs to sign with the Detroit Lions. He signed a one-year deal with the 53-man roster. This was not a poach; it was more like your everyday situation when someone quits a job for a better job.

With that comes a different scenario than with poaching. When a player is poached, the poaching team has to have him on its 53-man roster for three games. In this case, that's not required. If this doesn't work out, the Lions can move on. But they probably won't because...

The Lions have wanted Jammie Robinson for a long time

Lions head coach Dan Campbell said on Thursday that GM Brad Holmes has had his eyes on Robinson for a while now and has been looking for a way to get him here. Back in 2023, before the draft, the Lions formally met with Robinson at the NFL Combine and even attended his pro day.

Then the Lions got the insane ability to draft Brian Branch in the second round when he should have been gone in the first, and they had to do it. Robinson was drafted by the Panthers later in the draft.

If all goes well, Robinson could be a guy the Lions can grow with over time, and he could find himself as that safety three unless Thomas Harper, who looked good against the Chiefs, has anything to say about it.