Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen was a surprise success story in 2022, as the fifth-round rookie led the NFL with six interceptions and earned Pro Bowl honors while finishing third – behind top-five selections Sauce Gardner and Aidan Hutchinson – in Defensive Rookie of the Year balloting. Now, however, it is unclear whether he will even play out the final year of his rookie deal with the team that drafted him.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, rival clubs believe Woolen can be obtained via trade in advance of the November 4 deadline. And there are several reasons for that.
One, Seattle’s best corner, Devon Witherspoon, returned after a two-game injury absence to play a full complement of defensive snaps in the Seahawks’ Thursday night victory over the Cardinals. Although Woolen played 92.5% of the team’s snaps in the win, Witherspoon’s return and the emergence of fellow corners Josh Jobe and Derion Kendrick – an August waiver claim who played well in Witherspoon’s stead in Weeks 2 and 3 – could push Woolen down the depth chart.
While Rapoport’s report says Woolen’s playing time has diminished, NFL.com’s Bobby Kownack clarifies that the 26-year-old’s usage is expected to decrease moving forward. Indeed, ESPN’s Brady Henderson reported in the wake of Seattle’s Week 1 loss to the 49ers that Woolen’s status as a starting corner was up in the air.
In that contest, Woolen misplayed two throws on San Francisco’s game-winning drive, and he has not rebounded in the ensuing three games. Pro Football Focus has assigned him an abysmal 40.1 coverage grade for his work over the first four weeks of the campaign, and he has already committed six penalties. That comes on the heels of a 2024 season in which he also made costly errors late in games.
Woolen is surrendering a generous 106.7 QB rating as the closest defender in 2025. Jobe, by contrast, is giving up a meager 40.4 QB rating, and he secured an interception in the losing effort in Week 1. On the strength of his strong but limited sample size, Kendrick is currently ranked as PFF’s second-best corner.
It seems Woolen has not taken to head coach Mike Macdonald’s scheme, and a change of scenery could be a welcome development for both player and team. As Rapoport notes, the impending return of second-round rookie Nick Emmanwori will further crowd Seattle’s DB group. Emmanwori, who suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 1, is expected back in Week 5.
Any acquiring team would have exclusive negotiating rights with Woolen until the start of the legal tampering period in March, which would obviously be attractive to a club that believes it can engineer a return to top form for the UTSA product.
Wow, you almost never see quality corners and offensive linemen available for trade.
Key word is quality.
Woolen plays OK until crunch time and then he looks like a high schooler.