The Seattle Seahawks are obviously serious about potentially signing cornerback Terrion Arnold. He reportedly visited with the team this weekend, but that isn't the first time. He visited in July, too. General manager John Schneider could be eliciting quarterback Jalen Milroe's help in the matter.
While having long-standing friends on a team might not be the reason a player chooses to sign somewhere, the matter certainly helps. Edge rusher Dante Fowler Jr. signed with Seattle this offseason, partly because he was friends with DeMarcus Lawrence, and Lawrence helped bring Fowler to the Pacific Northwest.
Milroe and Arnold's friendship goes back to their college days at Alabama. Ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft, in which Seattle chose Milroe in the third round and the Detroit Lions selected Arnold in the first round, Arnold told the media, according to Trevor Sikkema, that he and Milroe had a "Kobe Bryant competition with the Crimson Tide.
Jalen Milroe could be helping sell Terrion Arnold to the Seattle Seahawks
Besides being friends, the two also tried to beat each other to football facilities first every day. Arnold said 5 am ET was not unusual. The battle of who would arrive first helped motivate each other to get better by preparing for the day and the next game.
Does that approach fit with the current Seattle Seahawks culture? Of course. The question is whether Arnold's current situation does. As the team is clearly thinking of adding the cornerback, it might be checking with Milroe about the possible fit with Arnold.
The cornerback hasn't exactly proven to be worthy of his first-round choice so far. He hasn't been bad, but his quarterback rating allowed is 96.8, and he's given up seven touchdown passes while getting just one interception. He missed half of last season with a right shoulder injury. If the Seahawks sign him, he still needs to prove he is worth getting a lot of reps.
That is, if he is allowed to play. The cornerback is facing eight felony counts currently. Four of them deal with kidnapping and four deal with armed robbery. If found guilty, Arnold wouldn't need to worry about football, most likely. Instead, he would probably ned to worry about staying safe while in prison.
Even if he isn't found guilty or innocent before the season begins, the NFL could suspend him for many games because of his off-field issues. If Seattle signs him, he still might not be able to play. That is a fact that John Schneider will obviously weigh in his decision.
But likely, Jalen Milroe will offer valuable insight into the kind of person he knew at Alabama. The quarterback and cornerback were friends, and their relationship is probably more valuable than how well they practiced against each other at Alabama. If Arnold ends up with the Seahawks, Milroe will probably be a big reason why.
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