The Seattle Seahawks boast a statistically stout defense, but the main story on this side of the ball is the reported Riq Woolen trade interest. There’s no confirmation that Woolen is being shopped, but it seems like there may be a little something to the possibility that the talented but often times frustrating cornerback could be on the move before the early November trade deadline.
Woolen was a revelation as a rookie, drawing instant comparisons to Richard Sherman as a converted wide receiver with tremendous ball skills. Riq picked off six passes and was a Defensive Rookie of the Year finalist back in 2022.
Since then, Woolen has five interceptions from 2023 onward, although he has 25 combined passes defensed during that span. He’s making plays on the ball even if he’s not getting the gaudy interception totals. The problems for Woolen have involved questions of effort, mental lapses, and discipline. He was briefly benched in 2023 for lackluster tackling effort, although Pete Carroll acknowledge he’d been dealing with a shoulder injury. An off-field team violation led to Woolen sitting the opening series against the Minnesota Vikings last year. In 2025, Woolen had a nightmarish fourth quarter versus the San Francisco 49ers, allowing three huge catches and giving up the winning touchdown to Jake Tonges. He has six penalties (four accepted) and leads the team in flags against. There have been issues of Woolen, who has those impressive PDs and interceptions on his record, not making great plays on the ball like we’d previously seen.
The Seahawks cornerback room was a bit of a question mark in the offseason but Seattle stayed the course and only added Shaq Griffin (now on the practice squad) and Derion Kendrick in July and August, respectively. Kendrick has played well in his new found slot role, while Josh Jobe has had a strong start to his first full season as a Seahawks starter. Even though Woolen has historically graded very well and had tremendous advanced metrics, even that has not been there this year.
Seattle’s cornerback depth chart would have not a single player taller than 6’0” on the roster if Woolen goes and the Seahawks don’t add another corner in return. None of those players, Devon Witherspoon included, is known for a tremendous vertical leap. Having an undersized cornerback room could be a major issue against teams with taller, more physical receivers, but that is only one aspect of what moving on from Woolen would do. It seems that with DK Metcalf gone, Woolen has become the DK of the defense; his great plays are great but the bad plays frustrate fans more than ever. Maybe they’re even frustrating Macdonald, given he didn’t strongly commit to starting Woolen in Week 2 before Devon Witherspoon got hurt. That Woolen has been punished by two coaches with fairly different disciplinary approaches seems ominous in itself, no matter how talented he is and no matter how many genuinely good reps he’s had as a cover corner.
Do you think Riq gets dealt? Why or why not? Debate away in the comments section!
