The Detroit Lions have had an interesting offseason, and the talking point during this time has been the legal issues and subsequent release of former first-round pick Terrion Arnold. Now, questions have arisen about the way the Lions and head coach Dan Campbell have approached the situation.

“As a result of being naive or incompetent, the team did not do enough to prepare for the possibility Arnold could be arrested and charged with a serious crime,” wrote NFL analyst John Maakaron. “After not signing a high-end cornerback in free agency, the team waited until the fifth round to target a cornerback. The 2026 draft was considered deep at the cornerback spot, but the Lions waited and targeted other areas of need in earlier rounds.”

The criticism stems from Detroit’s handling of the situation during free agency and the NFL Draft. Teams typically draft depth at positions where starters face legal/injury risk.

However, the Lions decided against investing heavily in the cornerback position despite reports suggesting Arnold’s legal troubles months prior in February.

Sports Illustrated’s Maakaron further questioned the plan of hoping Arnold would not be involved in legal troubles and called out Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes for not planning better.

Meanwhile, Maakaron also mentioned beat writer Dave Briskett’s take on Detroit’s plan of not doing enough despite the reports on Arnold.

"I don't think they did enough,” said Briskett on Woodward Sports Network. “ I think it was pretty obvious to anyone who had done any reporting or investigating on the matter, you know, way back in February or March, that Terrion Arnold could be caught up in some of this stuff. The Lions should have done a little bit more to prepare for potentially losing him.”

While the Lions did sign Roger McCreary and resign Rock Ya-Sin, they are better as veteran depth rather than as a starter. It will definitely be interesting to see what Campbell and Holmes have planned to replace Arnold.

With that said, Campbell's initial reaction to Arnold's troubles was very optimistic.

Campbell's initial reaction to Arnold's legal troubles

While the Lions have released Arnold, there was a time when they wanted to trust him and keep him, believing he was not involved. Dan Campbell was one such person.

"I mean, until something happens, I feel like we're going to be good here," said Campbell at the NFL's annual league meeting, as published by the Detroit News. "I'm going to trust what the kid said that we're all right."

Campbell had gone one step further and mentioned that the Lions also had reasons to believe that Arnold was not involved in the crimes that he was accused of at the time.

"We got all the information that says he wasn't involved," added Campbell. "That's what we know, that's all we know, and I mean, that's really all I can say."

However, two months after these comments, Arnold was charged by the courts and was subsequently released by the Lions.

Do you think the Lions will find a starter to replace Arnold? Let us know in the comments!

For all Lions updates, follow the Detroit Lions Community!

Written by

Dhruv Vishnu Nair

Edited by

Zaid Quraishi