Much of the free agency talk involving who might be leaving the Seattle Seahawks in free agency has focused on running back Kenneth Walker and wide receiver Rashid Shaheed. Not a lot of talk has happened about cornerback Riq Woolen, but that could be because he is presumed to leave.
Woolen is capable of supplying excellent coverage, of course, but he is inconsistent in all parts of the game. Not only inconsistent in terms of being good for one game and not the next, but from one play to the next. His performance can be maddening to both coaches and fans.
Against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1, for instance, he was decent for much of the game, and awful at the end with a terrible penalty setting the 49ers up deep in Seattle territory late in the Seahawks loss, and then allowing a touchdown pass by not easily knocking the ball down.
Riq Woolen seems destined to leave the Seattle Seahawks in free agency
In the NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams, the cornerback was rightfully penalized for needless taunting that gave LA a first down when the Rams would have been facing 4th-and-13, and on the next play, he gave up a long touchdown pass. Woolen was part of a title-winning team, but Seattle could have done with an overall better corner than Woolen.
Still, because Woolen can be a shutdown corner at times, he is probably going to get paid a bunch when free agency unofficially begins on Monday, March 9. His asking price has diminished somewhat, according to Spotrac. At one point, he might have asked for something in the mid-teens as far as millions of dollars per season.
Now, it appears, the cornerback may only get as much as $8 million per year on the open market. Is that too much? Not in Woolen's relation to how much other cornerbacks are paid. That number might even be affordable for the Seattle Seahawks.
The issue is that head coach Mike Macdonald and general manager John Schneider know they cannot fully trust Riq Woolen. He was suspended for violating a team rule, missed the first drive of Week 15 in 2024, and saw reduced reps in 2025 after Josh Jobe outplayed him.
Jobe is a free agent as well, and the team might prioritize re-signing him rather than giving Woolen much of an offer. That would be the smart move. What appears clear is that in a little over a week, Riq Woolen will be another team's problem, not the Seahawks'.