Damon Arnette‘s last NFL action came in 2021, and a number of legal issues since then appeared to close the door to a return. The corner has spent this spring in the UFL, though, and his performances have led to interest from NFL suitors. 
Arnette was cut by the Raiders midway through his second season in the NFL. That move came in response to a video which showed him threatening a person while brandishing a handgun; the former first-rounder was also the subject of multiple lawsuits at the time. He briefly saw time with the Dolphins before inking a futures deal with the Chiefs. Kansas City released Arnette immediately after his arrest for assault with a deadly weapon, however.
In May 2023, the Ohio State product was indicted by a grand jury on assault with a deadly weapon and firearm-related charges. Arnette disputed the allegations and ultimately reached a plea bargain agreement which included 50 hours of community service and $2K in fines. After his attempts to play in the UFL last spring were denied, Arnette has been granted the opportunity to do so in 2025, finding success with the Houston Roughnecks.
“With coaches, I feel like I’ve proved a complete turnaround,” the 28-year-old said (via Aaron Wilson of KPRC2). “All the coaches that have been with me right now, I feel like their words would be more valuable because I’ve said a lot of things in the past… I found professionalism and a calm state of mind. I feel like I’m the best version of myself that I’ve ever been.”
Wilson notes “several” NFL teams have contacted the Roughnecks about Arnette in the wake of his strong play, which has included 18 tackles, five pass deflections and one interception (returned for a 51-yard touchdown) through seven games so far. Given his age and the value of corners, a market could exist once the UFL season ends shortly. It seemed for multiple years as though Arnette would not have a future in the NFL, but that could soon change.
Embarrassing. This guy should’ve done jail time for that video alone.
He was terrible when he played. Maybe his life is back in order and his out of work distractions have subsided?
Drafting Arnette and Ferrell over the far superior prospects at each position have to be two of the all time dumbest draft decisions in history.
This post only covers some of Arnette’s legal troubles. He was arrested for possession of meth LAST YEAR.
The Raiders made some unbelievably bad first round choices during Gruden’s last tenure, but Arnette truly might be the worst. He was over age, he had character and maturity concerns (some of which had even been publicly expressed by Cris Carter, who had known him since he was a kid). He also hadn’t even been particularly good on the field most of his college career. There’s a reason he was only 63rd on Arif Hasan’s consensus big board.
I mean Henry Ruggs III killed someone…I feel like that is a bit worse.
Well yeah, Ruggs’ worst issue is worse than everyone else’s (though that speaks to luck in some ways, given just how often Arnette has shown bad judgement), but I meant decision at the time of the draft. Arnette, Leatherwood, and Ferrell were all much, much bigger reaches than Ruggs, and given the multiple red flags, I’d say Arnette was the worst in the moment.
I’m not going to assume I know anything about him other than being drafted wayyyyyy too high and he had legal trouble and Raiders cut ties.
Looks like he didnt do jailtime, always open for a redemption story, too old to slip up again and get another shot
Darn… I didn’t know UTL was playing yet. I’m gets how much we care about it. Lmao
Only in the NFL 🙄
Or politics or entertainment or tech or…
I was such a huge Mike Mayock fan and a huge Raiders fan and I thought it would be a great match. the great draft guru coming to turn my team around. Sadly though, Mayock seemed driven to go against the grain and prove himself smarter than all the other draft pundits and out started my team out of some serious prospects and himself out of a job. Anyone know what Mayock is up to these days?