The Seahawks signed Terrion Arnold Saturday after agreeing to terms with the former first-round pick earlier this month.
Tackle Derrick Graham was waived to make room on the 90-man roster.
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald spoke earlier this month on the decision to add the former Alabama standout, who was released by the Lions earlier this year.
“It was an opportunity to bring on a player that we felt strongly about during the draft process,” Macdonald said. “We also understand that it’s a serious situation with a legal matter. There’s a process behind it, so we respect that. That’s how we’ll operate, just letting that process play out and let the league decide if and when his return to play is. We’ll understand that that’s at play, but there’s also an opportunity to bring him and give him an opportunity to earn a position here.
“We feel really strongly about our locker room and our team. We had a great visit with Terrion. Obviously, we knew him going throughout the process. I referenced the folks that have been in his corner throughout the whole process as well, and we respect those people. We’re not going to ignore those folks that we really respect and have a strong opinion about it as well. When we put all of those things together, we felt like it was a good opportunity for the team.”
Macdonald said earlier this month that the team does not yet know when Arnold might be available, citing the ongoing legal proceedings.
“The timetable right now is being worked out,” Macdonald said. “To my understanding, he’s (talked with) quite a few teams—eight-plus, maybe 10-plus teams—so we’re working through that on when’s the best time for him to come in, but we have an agreement with him, and we’ll see. I really don’t know how we’re going to do it.”
When it comes to Arnold’s football talents, Macdonald said, “There’s a really great opportunity that we think his skillset fits in our secondary. He plays with a lot of energy, physicality. Some of the pattern-match stuff is more up his alley that he did at Alabama. Then, personality-wise, there’s an opportunity there if he’s the best version of himself that he can be a fit for us. We’ll see, 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. That’s the message to our team on the daily—we want our players to come and in be the best version of themselves, and we believe if you do that, then the team’s going to be better for it as well. Terrion, it will be the same process with him if and when he gets here.
“You see the movement skills, you see the physicality, and that’s the stuff that we saw coming out of school. That’s what made us think that he could be a good fit in our defense. It’s similar to really every other player you’re interested in acquiring, you see the potential, you see the vision for how they can play, then when they get here, you go through the process and see how he competes and how he stacks up against everybody else and see if there’s a role for him.”