Cornerback Terrion Arnold was selected with pick No. 24 in the 2024 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. However, he believes the only reason he isn’t a Las Vegas Raider right now is because of a coin flip on the first night of the draft.
“(The Lions) knew that the Raiders, there was a possibility that they took me,” Arnold said on “The Next Round” podcast. “And, actually, the Raiders coach, they called me after the draft, they were like, ‘We actually had a coin toss between you and Brock Bowers. It landed on him.'”
The Raiders ultimately drafted Bowers, who general manager Tom Telesco said was “a consensus guy.”
Assistant general manager Champ Kelly also dismissed Arnold’s claim.
“Yeah, I can’t confirm that at all,” Kelly said, via Vic Tafur of The Athletic. “Terrion is a good player. I’m excited to watch his career and watch him play. But we drafted Brock, and we’re excited to get him here. And I don’t think anyone else in our whole draft room felt any other way.”
Las Vegas’ selection of Bowers was surprising to some after the team had just used its second-round pick on Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer a year ago. However, Bowers was likely the best player on the Raiders’ board and Telesco said, “there’s no rule in the NFL that you can only play one.”
“(His) position is tight end, but we saw him as a playmaker,” Kelly added. “He is going to be a fun piece to have.”
The Georgia product is exactly that after registering 175 catches for 2,538 yards and 26 touchdowns in the past three years.
It seems unlikely that a team would flip a coin to make its decision while on the clock following months of preparation, but even if that were the case, it seems even less likely that it would admit that.