The strength of the 2025 Chicago Bears was supposed to be its defense, at least at the beginning of the season as the offense finds its footing. While they performed well enough in an epic Week 3 win over the Dallas Cowboys, they still allowed Dak Prescott to complete almost 80% of his passes a week after giving up 52 points to the Detroit Lions.
It’s not entirely the defense’s fault, however. They got bit hard by the injury bug before the season even started and have been without their two most important cornerbacks all year: two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon, who is fresh off a market-setting contract extension.
Gordon should return against the Las Vegas Raiders later today, but Jaylon Johnson is out indefinitely. That’s a long time to be without your CB1 in what is a pivotal season for a struggling franchise, and general manager Ryan Poles may want to consider adding a capable starter to the roster. The NFC North is once again looking like the best division in football and if Chicago wants to stay competitive they could use a boost.
That boost could come in the form of a Pro Bowl cornerback who’s losing playing time on his current team. Seattle Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen exploded into the NFL in 2022, winning a Pro Bowl award as a rookie with a 6-interception season. Seattle, however, has a stacked cornerback room themselves and could soon look to trade Woolen, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport.
It’s true that Woolen has cooled off a bit since his red-hot rookie season, but he’s far from a one-hit wonder. He still has pulled in five interceptions and deflected 25 passes over the past two years. He may not win another Pro Bowl award, but he’s a solid cornerback and now has three years of experience to lean on.
Woolen is in a contract year, which means a trade for Woolen likely wouldn’t cost more than a Day 3 pick. That’s a small price to pay for a stopgap cornerback until Jaylon Johnson returns. And if Woolen plays well in Johnson’s absence, the Bears could even offer him a one or two-year ‘prove it deal’ for 2026 as Chicago’s CB2.
