Terrion Arnold’s time in Detroit has reached an end following his release, marking a sad and disappointing end to a once-promising career with the Detroit Lions.
With the transaction, Detroit is left in limbo at cornerback. D.J. Reed is guaranteed to start on the outside, but who will start across from him in Arnold’s stead remains unclear. It could be Rock Ya-Sin, a veteran who impressed in spot duties last season. It could be Ennis Rakestraw, another 2024 draft pick who has failed to live up to expectations
due to injuries. It could even be depth options like Khalil Dorsey or Nick Whiteside or nickel corners like Roger McCreary or Keith Abney. All of these potential options highlights the hole left by Arnold’s off-field actions: the Lions badly needed him.
When the Lions drafted Arnold back in 2024, it came just a month after the team released former starting cornerback Cameron Sutton due to his active arrest warrant. Detroit had signed Amik Robertson and traded for Carlton Davis prior to that release, but it still left a void at cornerback both short-term and long-term—a void that Arnold could have and should have filled.
Following the arrest of Arnold, many were quick to pile on the disaster that was the Lions’ 2024 draft class. They selected Arnold with the 24th-overall selection after trading up. In the second round, they double-dipped at corner with Rakestraw. The Lions then spent a pair of fourth-round picks on projects, UBC offensive tackle Giovanni Manu and safety-turned-running back Sione Vaki. They rounded out the class with Mekhi Wingo and Christian Mahogany in the sixth round.
None of the remaining players are guaranteed a starting spot. Some of them are not even guaranteed a roster spot come September. Now that Arnold, Detroit’s best chance of a bonafide starter, has been released, what is there to salvage from this class? A fringe starting guard in Mahogany? A complete unknown cornerback in Rakestraw? A primary special teamer in Vaki?
General manager Brad Holmes certainly deserves criticism for a draft class that has failed to deliver, but drafting Arnold was not a mistake, even if it wound up being unsuccessful.
There is too much revisionist history about Arnold being a bad pick. For one, cornerback was very much a position of need for Detroit. Secondly, not only was Arnold among the top cornerbacks in the draft class, but he was also widely considered a steal at pick 24. Arnold did not have character red flags, having come from a reputable Alabama football program in which he was considered a leader and well-respected member of the team, as former head coach Nick Saban penned in a character letter defending Arnold. He did not have medical red flags either. Given how the draft played out, this was as obvious of a pick as you could have made.
You can point to the Pro Bowl nods for Cooper DeJean and Kamari Lassiter as players that the Lions could have selected instead, and that is valid (even if you are using the power of hindsight a bit too much). DeJean is a slot cornerback, meaning the team would have still needed help outside—not to mention that Brian Branch was coming off a phenomenal rookie season at nickel. Lassiter, meanwhile, was universally viewed as a lesser prospect.
You also have to consider that Arnold could have played his way into success this season. As a rookie, he started off struggling with penalties, but he showed massive improvement down the stretch. His 2025 campaign, meanwhile, was derailed by an injury. Was his development behind schedule for a former first-round pick? Sure. Was his career at an end because of on-field performance? Certainly not.
Holmes does not deserve flak for the Arnold pick. This is a case of a good pick turning bad, not a bad pick staying bad. How was Holmes supposed to predict a shoulder injury for a player without an injury history? How was Holmes supposed to predict an arrest for a player with numerous glowing character reviews?
When you select a player in the NFL Draft, you do so with the intention of using all of your presently available knowledge to pick players that can grow and develop into assets. You can blame Holmes for players like Rakestraw (prior injury history) or Manu (raw, small school prospect) not panning out so far. You should not blame Holmes for Arnold’s failures. The man to blame is Arnold himself. Holmes’ logic for drafting Arnold was sound and reasonable. Arnold was a failed draft pick, not a bad draft pick—simply put, good prospects can fail.
