Seahawks sign Terrion Arnold, but he still can't play
Seattle made Terrion Arnold's signing official Saturday, but the felony charges that got him cut loose in Tampa mean the exempt list, not the field, is where he lands first.
Seahawks sign Terrion Arnold, but he still can't play
Seattle made it official Saturday, with Adam Schefter confirming the deal for cornerback Terrion Arnold, the former Lions first-round pick Detroit released in June after his arrest on eight felony charges in Tampa — four counts of kidnapping and four of armed robbery that carry a potential sentence of life in prison, per ESPN. He posted a $1 million bond in June and the case remains active, with a judge confining him to his Tallahassee residence except when he's playing, training or traveling with a team. Aaron Wilson reported the Seahawks waived offensive lineman Derrick Graham the same day to open the roster spot.
None of that means Arnold actually suits up. Tom Pelissero reported the NFL will place him on the commissioner's exempt list "once his contract is filed, per a league official" — a status that pays him his full salary but keeps him off the practice field and out of games while the league runs its own review. Mike Garafolo added that Seattle is simply waiting on that paperwork now, so for the moment the Seahawks have a former first-round corner on the roster who can't practice, can't play, and won't count toward Tuesday's cutdown if he's still there.
Milroe closes his audition with the best half of his summer
Seattle finished its exhibition slate the way it ran the whole thing — with Jalen Milroe playing every snap. He went the full 60 minutes of Friday's 9-9 tie at Kansas City, finishing 16 of 26 for 223 yards and a touchdown for a 101.9 passer rating, connecting with Nick Vannett from four yards out for the score. Emmanuel Henderson Jr. caught three of four targets for 58 yards and added two kickoff returns for 41 yards, and Elijah Arroyo turned his only look into a 24-yard grab.
Chiefs9-9
Titans16-19
Cowboys7-17
Mike Macdonald's review afterward was pointed but plainly pleased: "Stick to your reads and then, if it's there, rip it; if it's not, progress... I definitely felt like he took a step in his game, and he should be excited about his growth." Seattle closes the preseason at 0-2-1, but nobody in Renton is grading Milroe on that scoreboard — the whole point of the exhibition slate was finding out whether the third-string arm looks like a real answer, and Friday was the best case he's made yet.
Leonard Williams gets paid before he even had to ask
The Seahawks capped an offseason full of second contracts by locking up Leonard Williams for three years and $90 million, joining Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Rashid Shaheed, Josh Jobe and Devon Witherspoon as core pieces who got paid without hitting the market. Mike Macdonald made clear how much the move meant inside the building: "We couldn't be more excited to get the deal done. He's a foundational player to our club from when we got here."
Williams, a second-team All-Pro last year and a Super Bowl champion in his current stint with Seattle, called it a first: "I think this is maybe my first time being extended while under contract with a team. It's really great news." For a defensive tackle turning 32 this season, getting paid before free agency was ever a threat is its own kind of vote of confidence.
A Super Bowl LX rematch opens the real thing
Wednesday night vs. the Patriots doubles as a rematch of Super Bowl LX, when Seattle beat New England 29-13 at Levi's Stadium to win it all — Uchenna Nwosu's pick-six off Drake Maye was the exclamation point on a defense that shut the Patriots out until the fourth quarter. Maye enters his third season with real MVP buzz after a breakout year that included 450 rushing yards and four touchdowns on top of his arm, but Mike Vrabel has barely played him this preseason, saying flatly, "I do not think we have a very deep team," per multiple reports. New England finished its own exhibition slate 1-1-1, most recently falling 13-37 at Cleveland.
Lumen Field opened as a Seattle -3.5 favorite with the total set at 44.5 — a middling number for a game with this much quarterback talent on both sidelines, and the first meeting between these two clubs since a Seattle team hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in front of them seven months ago.