The Seahawks have an agreement with free-agent cornerback Terrion Arnold. It’s not clear when he’ll be joining the team.
Coach Mike Macdonald told reporters on Friday that the “timetable is being worked out” for his arrival.
“We’re working through that and when’s the best time for him to come in, but we have an agreement with him and we’ll see,” Macdonald said, via the HawkBlogger Twitter account. “But I just really don’t know what, you know, how we’re gonna do it.”
Macdonald also explained the decision to strike a deal with Arnold, who is facing eight felony charges in Florida that carry a potential sentence of life in prison.
“I think it was an opportunity to bring on a player that we felt strongly about during the draft process,” Macdonald said, “and we also understand that it’s a serious situation with a legal matter that’s, you know — there’s a process behind it, so we respect that. And that’s how we’ll operate, too, and just letting that process play out and let the league decide, if and when, you know, if his return to play is — then we’ll just kind of understand that that’s at play, but there’s also an opportunity to bring him in and give him an opportunity to earn a position here.
“But, you know, we feel really strongly about our locker room and our team, and how we had a great visit with Terrion. And obviously, we knew him going throughout the process, and I referenced the folks that had been in his corner throughout the whole process, as well, and, you know, we respect those people. And, you know, we’re not gonna ignore those folks that we really respect and have a strong opinion about it as well. So, kind of, we put all those things together, it felt like it was a good opportunity for the team.”
Macdonald also explained the balance between the player’s skills and the other issues.
“When he gets in the building, we’ll go about our business like we normally do, and go try to be the best version of us that we can possibly be, and that includes him,” Macdonald said. “And that’s the message to our team on the daily. We want our players to come in and be the best version of themselves, and we believe that if you do that, then the team’s gonna be better for it as well. So [for] Terrion [it] will be the same process with him if and when he gets here.”
That last part is important. “If and when he gets here.” The process could still be short-circuited.
It remains fair to wonder whether Arnold’s skills and abilities justify the P.R. fallout, especially since the Lions decided to cut him. With a new owner due to potentially be approved in only 12 days, the Seahawks are rolling the dice, in multiple ways. Even if the front office ran the move by incoming owner Vinod Khosla, every decision that current management makes will contribute to the assessment by Khosla and the rest of the ownership group of the organization they’ll be inheriting.
With no guarantee that Arnold will ever play for the Seahawks in a regular-season game, it’s a calculated risk that may have been influenced by the naturally inflated confidence that comes from winning a Super Bowl. And it’s the kind of decision that could become a factor if/when Khosla and company are balancing the pros and cons of making significant changes.
