The Seattle Seahawks‘ Alabama pipeline was already hiding in plain sight. Their latest two cornerback pursuits have shown just how useful it can be.
Seattle officially signed former All-Pro cornerback Trevon Diggs on August 19, days after agreeing in principle to a deal with former Detroit Lions first-round pick Terrion Arnold, whose addition has not yet been finalized amid his ongoing legal case and the possibility of placement on the NFL Commissioner’s Exempt List.
Those moves have more in common than position.
Diggs and Arnold both starred at Alabama, but more importantly, both arrived on Seattle’s radar with an unusually deep network of people inside the Seahawks organization who already knew them.
And thanks to HBO’s Hard Knocks, fans have now seen that network being used.
Jalen Milroe, Robbie Ouzts Helped Seahawks Vet Terrion Arnold
Seattle’s pursuit of Arnold offered an unusually revealing look at how general manager John Schneider performs background work on a prospective addition.
Hard Knocks showed Schneider reaching into Arnold’s Alabama past while the Seahawks weighed whether to offer the cornerback an NFL second chance.
Schneider spoke with former Alabama coach Nick Saban and sought input from Seahawks quarterback Jalen Milroe, one of Arnold’s closest friends from Tuscaloosa. He also talked with Seattle fullback Robbie Ouzts, another former Alabama teammate.
Milroe’s support was hardly lukewarm.
After Arnold’s Seattle visit, Milroe called him one of his “best friends” and said he believed Arnold could be a difference-maker, citing his passion, intelligence and versatility as a cornerback.
That doesn’t mean Seattle outsourced its decision to former Alabama players. The allegations against Arnold are serious, and the Seahawks conducted their own evaluation before deciding to pursue him.
But having people already inside the building who spent years alongside Arnold gave Schneider something every front office covets: information from people it already trusts.
Then Diggs arrived and highlighted the other side of the pipeline.
Trevon Diggs Says Familiar Seahawks Faces Made Seattle ‘Feel Like Home’
Diggs had other options after working out for Seattle, but he said he canceled the remainder of his planned visits because of how comfortable he felt with the Seahawks.
“This feels like home,” Diggs said, pointing to the familiar coaches and players around him.
One of those players is Josh Jobe, Diggs’ former Alabama teammate.
Their connection goes back to 2018, when Diggs was an upperclassman in Alabama’s secondary and Jobe was a freshman. Diggs publicly praised Jobe’s aggressive playing style that season and called him the hardest hitter on the team.
Diggs also reunites with Seahawks defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator Karl Scott, who coached his position at Alabama. His familiarity with defensive coordinator Aden Durde, meanwhile, comes from their time together with the Dallas Cowboys â an important distinction in a Seattle staff filled with overlapping relationships.
Those connections don’t guarantee Diggs will rediscover the form that produced an NFL-best 11 interceptions in 2021. Injuries have limited him considerably over the past three seasons.
They do, however, reduce some of the unknowns when Seattle evaluates whether a former All-Pro can fit its locker room and defense.
Alabama Connections Already Helped Build a Seahawks Champion
This isn’t a relationship Seattle suddenly discovered in August.
The Seahawks had four former Alabama players on their Super Bowl LX championship roster: Jobe, Milroe, Ouzts and veteran defensive tackle Jarran Reed. Alabama said its four Seattle alumni were part of a league-high seven Crimson Tide players represented in the game.
Jobe became particularly valuable. After first joining Seattle’s practice squad in 2024, he started 15 games during the Seahawks’ 2025 championship season, tied for the team lead with 12 passes defensed and earned another contract from Seattle in March 2026.
Reed is an even longer-running example. Seattle drafted him out of Alabama in the second round in 2016, and after leaving for two seasons, he returned in 2023. He has since surpassed 100 games as a Seahawk and moved into the franchise’s top 10 in sacks. Macdonald has called him the “OG leader” of Seattle’s defensive line.
And no Alabama-to-Seattle success story is bigger than Shaun Alexander.
The Seahawks selected Alexander 19th overall out of Alabama in 2000. Five years later he rushed for a franchise-record 1,880 yards, scored a then-NFL-record 28 touchdowns, won league MVP and helped take Seattle to the first Super Bowl in franchise history. He remains the Seahawks’ career rushing leader with 9,429 yards.
Diggs and Arnold have a long way to go before belonging in that conversation.
But Seattle’s Alabama connection is no longer just an interesting roster coincidence. Hard Knocks showed Schneider using it to gather intelligence. Milroe and Ouzts helped the Seahawks evaluate Arnold. Jobe and Scott helped give Diggs a familiar landing spot.
For a defending champion looking for every possible edge, the Crimson Tide network has become another one.
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