Healing Up, Primed for the Comeback: Catching up on the Lions
Digging in on Terrion Arnold, the Lions Cornerback Room, Sam LaPorta, and more!
Information sourced from: ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, Pro Football Focus, Spotrac, DFN
Healing Up, Primed for the Comeback
Let me tell you, it’s good to be writing to you all again. As you may or may not be aware (or have noticed), I have not been posting at my normal cadence over the last 4 weeks. This is due to some significant medical issues that came up quickly and rendered me unable to focus and do the needed work to put out quality content for you all. I would just like to say thank you for continuing to visit my content and for reaching out. I am doing better, and will hopefully be fully healed soon. That said, let’s dig right back in where we left off and catch up on some Lions news!
Terrion Arnold
By now, you all know what has happened with Terrion Arnold, arguably the Lions number one cornerback. If you don’t know, I’ll give you a nutshell:
Terrion Arnold was arrested on June 30 on multiple felony counts of kidnapping and armed robbery. This all stems back to a party allegedly stealing a large amount of items and money from Arnold. Arnold allegedly coordinated and perhaps viewed/influenced a group of individuals retaliating against the (alleged) perpetrators. All in all, it’s a mess. At Arnold’s hearing the judge did allow him to be released on one million dollars bond, but did find probable cause for Arnold to be charged. Shortly thereafter the Lions released Terrion Arnold.
There have been a lot of takes on this. I will leave mine here: I recall Arnold being reported with no character concerns coming out of college. We all know Holmes did his due diligence. However, money changes people, and perhaps he fell in with a bad crowd. I am rooting for (first and foremost) Arnold to only be charged with what is appropriate (Lion or not), and I hope the young man gets his life together. However, the Lions made the right move in releasing him, and are sticking to their guns when it comes to severe legal troubles and character concerns. They previously did this with Cam Sutton, and it shows consistency in their stance. Keep your nose clean and you’ve got no problems.
Finally, Coach Campbell stated sometime ago in the offseason that Arnold had communicated to him that this legal trouble was essentially a non issue. My understanding is the Lions seem to feel as though they were lied to, and that likely played into his release.
So the Terrion Arnold days are over, and the 2024 draft class goes down as one of Brad Holmes worst (though some of those players may still rebound and become something).
Rock Ya-Sin
So, hear me out. I do think the Lions need to add an additional quality corner to their cornerback room (we will come back to that) with the release of Arnold. However, I think it’s important to understand that Rock Ya-Sin was not playing that far off of Arnolds’s level last year. In fact, Pro Football Focus states that Ya-Sin was better statistically than Arnold (graphics below per PFF). While PFF grades aren’t great at giving nuance to how a player plays, I think they are a good higher level assessment.
Ya-Sin had double the snaps (roughly) of Terrion, and logged one more pass breakup. He was ranked the 57th corner by PFF grade in 2025, as opposed to Arnold who was rated 97th. Ya-Sin also graded out better on solo tackles, receptions allowed, and missed tackles. He may not have the ceiling, but he was a big reason that the Lions continued to do anything on defense in 2025. So, while this isn’t ideal, I think we need to back the panic train up and simply consider the stats.
Keith Abney and Roger McCreary
I’ll keep this point brief. Keith Abney projects to be a nickel in the NFL and should have been picked higher than he was. He has looked good thus far in minicamp (albeit without pads). Roger McCreary looked like he was going to be our nickel, but it is important to state that he has experience playing outside in the NFL. I remember another cornerback that the Lions defensive staff brought in that played some outside but was looked at as a nickel: Amik Robertson. No one thought much of the signing when we picked him up either, and he turned out to be really good. I’m not saying McCreary is Robertson, all I am saying here is let the Lions defensive staff cook a bit with the ingredients they have. They may have the pieces to hold this together.
However… Bring in the Reinforcements
I have to give Mike Payton from A to Z sports credit for planting this idea in my head, but I think the Lions should consider bringing in Rasul Douglas. Rasul Douglas was statistically better than both Arnold and Ya-Sin last year when playing for the Dolphins of all teams (one can only go up I suppose). He is 30 years old, and could likely be had on a 1 year, 4 million dollar-ish contract with perhaps 2 or 3 million guaranteed, so he is affordable. This immediately adds depth as well, with the potential for him to play outside, start, and be a stable veteran presence in a defensive back room that has some issues.
Sam LaPorta Contract and Trade Rumors
On the offensive side of the ball, Sam LaPorta has been coming up a lot as of late. For a variety of reasons. He is coming off of his back surgery, he is due a contract, and there have been a lot of rumors from bigger outlets that he might be traded. However, let’s not put the cart before the horse, and break down the simple facts.
LaPorta is unproven right now after his back injury and likely brings diminished trade value because of that, I am inclined to think this would be a reason the Lions won’t trade him.
LaPorta is a safety valve that Goff trusts. Period. The drop off when he got injured was palpable. This also inclines me to think he won’t be traded.
Last year, major outlets said Kirby Joseph was a potential trade target. About this time of year, when news is slow (go figure). This further inclines me to think LaPorta won’t be traded.
Finally, on the contract side, the Lions have not seen LaPorta take a single padded snap since his surgery. I highly doubt they are going to give him a contract until they have tested him out a bit and feel good that he will not regress.
To sum it up. I don’t think LaPorta is being traded or given a new contract right now. I think if he holds up he could get a contract mid-season.
Tyler Conklin
Finally, with the questions about LaPorta, it’s easy to wonder what is going on with Tyler Conklin. Well if you think back to OTAs you may recall he exited with an injury. During minicamp he was absent with no explanation. While I would label this curious, it could simply be that they didn’t want to aggravate something, or didn’t see value in putting stress on the body of the over 30 tight end. There’s no reason to panic until we know more on this front.
Wrapping Up
We are entering into the quiet time of the season. Training camp starts August 2 (July 21 is when tickets become available if you are interested). I don’t expect a ton of Lions news beyond perhaps adding a veteran corner, or trading for one. However, we will have plenty to dig into here at Silver & Blues! Special thanks to S&B contributors: Groot the Dutch, MCBC, and Sam for their conversation and ideas while gearing up for this article.
34 days until the Hall of Fame game (Panthers and Cardinals)!