RENTON, Wash. \u2014 After answering six minutes\u2019 worth of questions about why the Seattle Seahawks are working on a contract with cornerback Terrion Arnold, coach Mike Macdonald was asked about the team\u2019s preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Macdonald made it clear he was not ducking inquiries about Arnold, who is facing eight felony charges stemming from allegations he orchestrated the abduction and beating of three men in February. The 23-year-old became a free agent in June, when the Detroit Lions released him a few days after the kidnapping, armed robbery and conspiracy charges were levied.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand the situation,\u201d Macdonald said Friday. \u201cSo, I\u2019m glad that we had the opportunity to talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Macdonald explained why the reigning Super Bowl champions felt compelled to add Arnold, who prosecutors in Florida said arranged for men to be pistol-whipped after he wrongly suspected them of stealing $100,000 in cash and luxury goods from him.<\/p>\n
Police called Arnold the \u201cprimary conspirator\u201d in the Feb. 4 attack, and a judge set his bail at $1 million.<\/p>\n
Defense attorney R. Timothy Jansen said in Hillsborough County court earlier this summer that Arnold is \u201cabsolutely denying these allegations.\u201d Denise White, the CEO of EAG Sports Management, an agency that represents Arnold, said there\u2019s \u201cno credible evidence\u201d against him, only accounts from others who may have an incentive to get a lighter sentence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also understand that it\u2019s a serious situation with a legal matter,\u201d Macdonald said. \u201cThere\u2019s a process behind it, so we respect that. And, that\u2019s how we\u2019ll operate, too, is just letting that process play out. And, let the league decide if and when his return to play is. And we\u2019ll just kind of understand that that\u2019s at play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Macdonald said the timetable for the NFL ruling on Arnold\u2019s eligibility for the 2026 season is still being worked out. To Macdonald\u2019s understanding, Arnold visited at least eight teams, and it is unclear when he will join the Seahawks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an agreement with him, and we\u2019ll see,\u201d Macdonald said. \u201cBut I just really don\u2019t know how we\u2019re going to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Should Arnold be permitted to play for the Seahawks this season, he could bolster what was arguably the NFL\u2019s best defense last season. No team allowed fewer points per game (17.2), and Seattle finished in the top seven in the league in sacks and interceptions.<\/p>\n
Arnold should add depth to a secondary that lost cornerback Riq Woolen to free agency and has been without second-year safety Nick Emannwori, who had offseason ankle surgery, during training camp.<\/p>\n
Arnold has played in 25 NFL games, including playoffs, since the Lions took him with the 24th pick of the 2024 draft out of Alabama.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think his skill set fits in our secondary,\u201d Macdonald said. \u201cHe plays with a lot of energy, physicality. \u2026 And then, personality-wise, I think there\u2019s an opportunity there if he\u2019s the best version of himself that he could be a fit for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
A number of Seahawks players have already spent plenty of time around Arnold.<\/p>\n
Backup quarterback Jalen Milroe and fullback Robbie Ouzts were college teammates of Arnold for three seasons at Alabama. Cornerback Josh Jobe overlapped with Arnold for one season with the Crimson Tide.<\/p>\n
Macdonald also said the Seahawks\u2019 decision-makers held informal, one-on-one conversations with some team leaders. He also spoke highly of his discussion with Arnold during his visit on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Macdonald did not get into specifics, but said the Seahawks leaned on people who could vouch for Arnold\u2019s character before deciding to offer him a deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s overwhelmingly positive. It really is,\u201d Macdonald said. \u201cAnd, again, it\u2019s a serious situation, that there\u2019s allegations there that are serious. But, if you separate that from the person that they talk about on a daily basis and their history with him, it\u2019s been really overwhelmingly positive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RENTON, Wash. \u2014 After answering six minutes\u2019 worth of questions about why the Seattle Seahawks are working on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":973305,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2081],"tags":[7,2860,6,238,237,261,2635,1748],"class_list":["post-973304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-seattle-seahawks","tag-football","tag-mike-macdonald","tag-nfl","tag-seahawks","tag-seattle","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-seattleseahawks","tag-terrion-arnold"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117096186105559249","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/973304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=973304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/973304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/973305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=973304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=973304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=973304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}