RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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They have an agreement to sign a former first-round pick who is facing felony charges.
They signed a former All-Pro who has not played a full NFL season since 2022.
Now a new entrant has joined coach Mike Macdonald’s quest to find a dependable third cornerback for his defense.
He’s who the Seahawks have wanted in this competition all along.
Rookie third-round draft choice Julian Neal was matching his teammates in full pads and fully participating in the 10 or so minutes of practice open to reporters Wednesday. Neal missed almost all training camp with a leg injury. This week is the fullest he’s practiced all month.
He’s missed so long it’s no sure thing Neal, a cornerback from Arkansas and Fresno State, will be ready to play in Seattle’s preseason finale Friday night at Kansas City (5 p.m., KING-5 television).
Macdonald is seeking a cornerback to use with starters Devon Witherspoon and Josh Jobe in five- and six-defensive-back sets. Those were essentially Seattle’s base schemes last season. Macdonald used them two-thirds of the time as the Seahawks allowed the fewest points in the league.
If Neal hadn’t gotten hurt in late July, the Seahawks may not have become interested in Terrion Arnold. The former Detroit Lions first-round pick and starting cornerback is facing eight felony charges in Florida for an alleged kidnapping and burglary. The Seahawks have an agreement to sign Arnold , who at 23 is the same age as Neal. Arnold may sign after the final preseason game Friday and before the league’s deadline Sunday to cut the roster from 90 to 53 players.
Macdonald and general manager John Schneider initially believed after a team investigation of Arnold’s matter that Arnold would have been able to play in the preseason. Now they believe NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is going to put Arnold on his exempt list as soon as he signs. That will make him ineligible to practice or play for the team, though he will be able to be in team meetings, the locker room and training rooms while not counting against Seattle’s roster.
If Neal hadn’t missed almost all of training camp, the Seahawks may not have signed Trevon Diggs. The former Dallas Cowboys All-Pro agreed to a one-year contract last week. His first practice was Friday. He did position drills then took off his shoulder pads and watched the team scrimmage the Tennessee Titans in a joint practice in Nashville.
Diggs has been fully participating in practices this week in the portion of the drills open to the media, which this time of year through season’s end isn’t much. He is on a fast track toward getting back into football shape; he hasn’t practiced or played in pads since January, when he played two games for Green Bay. In mid-January the Packers released Diggs, a seventh-year veteran who turns 28 next month.
If the season started today — which it doesn’t, it begins Sept. 9 against New England in Lumen Field — Maconald would be choosing between unproven 2024 fifth-round pick Nehemiah Pritchett and veteran Noah Igbinoghene as the third cornerback.
Pritchett began training camp as third cornerback with the starting defense, playing outside with Witherspoon moving inside to nickel back. Pritchett’s tackling was poor. Macdonald then had Igbinoghene as the third cornerback this month.
Then the team began shopping for more options.
Neal is one Macdonald and Schneider have wanted in this role since they drafted him this spring.
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