Seahawks try out Terrion Arnold amid felony accusations

Published 9:08 am Tuesday, August 11, 2026

RENTON — The Seahawks continue to look for cornerbacks for Mike Macdonald’s top-ranked defense.

Including one facing eight felony counts and potentially life in prison.

Macdonald talked at some length Monday about his and his Super Bowl champions’ interest in signing free-agent cornerback Terrion Arnold. The coach confirmed Arnold had a second visit to Seahawks headquarters Sunday, and that he worked out for the team.

The Detroit Lions released their starting cornerback and 2024 first-round draft choice this summer. That was after Arnold’s arrest in June in Florida related to an armed robbery and kidnapping case there.

Arnold is facing eight felony charges that carry a potential sentence of up to life in prison.

“It’s enough right now that we had him in for a great visit, a great tryout,” Macdonald said. “It’s a situation where there are other things surrounding it, as well. We are aware of that.

“We’re working through the situation right now. But it was a great visit. I really enjoyed meeting him, and I think he enjoyed being here.

“So we’ll see where it goes.”

The Seahawks might have information that suggests Arnold could be exonerated in Florida. Or, at the least, they want to be in the front of the line of the NFL teams to sign him if he is.

Macdonald constantly talks about “CHASING EDGES” to always improve. It’s on signs in the team’s building. It’s on T-shirts players, coaches and staff wear.

General manager John Schneider, entering his 17th season on the job, often says he wants his team “to be in on everything,” every possibility to improve the team.

A tryout and second visit for Arnold is both “chasing edges” and “being in on everything.” It’s Schneider’s and Macdonald’s way to keep the Seahawks on the inside track to signing Arnold if and when he becomes available to play again.

The News Tribune asked Macdonald if the Seahawks have any indication toward the possibility Arnold could be cleared to play the entire 2026 season. For Seattle, that begins Sept. 9 with the NFL kick-off game against New England at Lumen Field.

“I think we understand that, like, everything is kind of on the table,” Macdonald said. “That’s where we’re at in the process.”

Arnold, 23, reportedly is also visiting the New Orleans Saints this week.

Arnold’s agent Nicole Lynn testified before a judge in a July court hearing that the Houston Texans and New York Jets also have been in contact with interest in possibly signing the cornerback.

Seahawks connections to Terrion Arnold

Arnold was recruited to the University of Alabama by position coach Karl Scott in 2019 and ‘20 when Arnold was a star high-school cornerback and wide receiver in Tallahassee, Florida. Scott left Alabama before the 2021 season to be the defensive backs coach with the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings.

Scott is now entering his fifth season as the Seahawks’ defensive backs coach. He is one of the only assistant coaches Macdonald retained from Pete Carroll’s staff after the Seahawks fired Carroll following 15 seasons and hired the then-36-year-old Macdonald as a first-time head coach in January 2024.

“Yes, Karl is an example — Karl recruited him to Alabama, to my knowledge, but did not coach him,” Macdonald said. “So it’s not as big a relationship as you might imagine, as you might expect. But he’s definitely a person that we would talk to.”

Macdonald’s greatest accomplishment in rebuilding the Seahawks in two seasons on the job into now the defending Super Bowl champion is the culture he’s forged inside the team’s locker room. He built a team brotherhood and togetherness by an evaluation, drafting and signing system based on the quality of a player’s character and him as a person. It’s what players and Macdonald himself cited as why they won Super Bowl 60 in February.

How are Macdonald and Schneider considering that Seahawks culture while interested in possibly signing Arnold?

“Well, we are going to do our due diligence,” Macdonald said. “And there are a lot of people in Terrion’s corner that we respect, in terms of what type of guy he is. We’re going to work through all that. I trust our people to make the best decision for us. We also think this is a great place to come work, too, and people can become the best version of themselves if given the opportunity.

“So, kinda works both ways.”

Despite what they might say, their interest in Arnold shows the Seahawks aren’t satisfied with the depth and quality at cornerback after three-time Pro Bowl selection Devon Witherspoon, who is 25.

It also shows Macdonald and Schneider would love to have two first-round draft choices who are still in their mid-20s, entering their primes, starting at the most demanding and valuable position on defense in this pass-happy league.

The Seahawks lost Riq Woolen in free agency this spring. The Pro Bowl cornerback for Seattle as a rookie in 2022 signed with Philadelphia for one year and $12 million. Nehemiah Pritchett, the team’s fifth-round pick from Auburn in 2024, has been the third cornerback with Witherspoon and outside Josh Jobe when the defense goes to five defensive backs in training camp, as Macdonald did two-thirds of the time last season.

Eighth-year veteran Noah Igbinoghene, a former first-round pick by Miami and ex-Washington Commanders starter, was playing nickel again with the Seahawks’ first-team defense more on Monday. Former Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn moved Igbinoghene from outside corner inside to nickel for the first time in 2024, the season Quinn took over as the Commanders’ head coach.

Third-round draft choice Julian Neal returned to practice on a limited basis Monday. The rookie cornerback missed about two weeks with a leg injury.

As he returned, another rookie cornerback draft pick got hurt. Michael Dansby, who’s had a strong camp, left practice an hour-plus into it. The seventh-round pick from Arizona who’s excelled making plays on the ball this month walked into the team’s training room during a one-on-one pass-defense scrimmage. A trainer was holding Dansby’s pained right hand and wrist. Dansby returned to finish the practice. He broke up a pass in the back of the end zone while trying not to use his right hand, which he held at times as he scrimmaged.

“There’s great competition right now,” Macdonald said.

The coach added he wants his defense to play more with three linebackers at the same time this fall, maybe some with five defensive linemen. That would take a third or fourth cornerback off the field.

Terrion Arnold’s charges

Back in Tampa, Florida, Arnold faces three counts of armed robbery, three counts of kidnapping, one count of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping. That’s in connection to an alleged incident in February that resulted in his arrest, plus that of six others in Tampa June 24.

Prosecutors accuse Arnold of being the “primary conspirator” who orchestrated an abduction and interrogation of three men who he believed stole from a rented house more than $250,000 in personal property belonging to Arnold and friends.

Police allege members of Arnold’s group ambushed the alleged victims at an apartment and spent an hour beating them at gunpoint. One of the defendants allegedly livestreamed the proceedings to Arnold while he was on his way to the apartment.

“Terrion Arnold categorically denies any involvement in the matters underlying the allegations made against him and maintains his innocence,” Denise White, a representative of his, has released.

Arnold has been free on $1 million bond. He is scheduled for an arraignment hearing Thursday in Tampa. He is scheduled to enter a formal plea.