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# The Riq Enigma: Why Seahawks Re-Signing Woolen Should Be Slam Dunk, But Isn’t
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/seattle-seahawks-riq-woolen-resigning-slam-dunk/
- Published: 2025-06-16T21:28:29.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T06:19:52.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Analysis, Seahawks, Riq Woolen, Devon Witherspoon

\[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="957"\]

![  Seattle Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen celebrates in the end zone after a red zone stop during a Week 3 home game against the Miami Dolphins. Credit: Riq Woolen/Instagram  ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/461313281_1209124473729078_99002588866373684_n-format-original.jpg)

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen celebrates in the end zone after a red zone stop during a Week 3 home game against the Miami Dolphins. Credit: Riq Woolen/Instagram \[/caption\]

When Riq Woolen burst onto the scene as a Defensive Rookie of the Year finalist in 2022, his future with the Seattle Seahawks looked to be all but sealed with a massive second contract coming his way a few years down the road as one of NFL’s rising young superstars.

After all, Woolen couldn’t have accomplished much more than he did blowing all expectations out of the water as a fifth-round pick out of Texas San-Antonio. Despite putting up historic testing numbers at the NFL combine, including a sub-4.30 40-yard dash at 6-4, 205 pounds, he only started one season as a cornerback for the Roadrunners after originally starting his college career as a receiver, projecting him to be a multi-year project before he would be ready to regularly see the field as a defender in the league.

But Woolen impressed from the start of his first offseason program and quickly put that narrative to rest, eventually stealing a starting job away from veteran Sidney Jones during training camp. He started off his first regular season as a Seahawk with a bang, recording interceptions in four consecutive games from Week 3 to Week 6, including a pick-six in a road win over Jared Goff and the Lions. By the end of the season, he had tied all cornerbacks with six interceptions, finishing third in Defensive Rookie of the Year balloting and earning his first Pro Bowl nod.

Fast forwarding two years later, however, Woolen has yet to be signed to a new contract as he heads into the final year of his rookie deal, a clear indicator of how things have changed since he dominated throughout his rookie campaign. Once seeming to be a cement-solid lock to receive a lucrative extension - even with the potential to reset the market at the cornerback position - that certainty has become clouded, even with some analysts skeptical Seattle has intentions of re-signing him at all.

The multi-million dollar question is - why? Why would one of the most physically gifted players in the entire NFL, who just turned 26 years old, remains in the prime of his career, and is beloved by teammates, not be a top priority to retain long-term?

When it comes to assessing Woolen’s true value, starting with obvious plusses, few players have been better at generating plays on the football in coverage, which may be the most important trait for a cornerback in today’s NFL. Per Pro Football Reference, he’s the only player in the league to post double-digit interceptions (11) and 40 or more passes defensed (41) dating back to 2022, sitting in that excusive club all by himself. He’s also allowed a pedestrian 57.7 percent completion percentage over the course of his three NFL seasons.

Digging further, according to Pro Football Focus’ advanced charting, Woolen stands out as the only cornerback to register eight or more pass breakups in each of the previous three seasons. On two different occasions, he has been among the top-11 in completion percentage against as well as snaps per reception allowed while also finishing seventh in passer rating against in 2022\. Adding those numbers with his interception totals, a strong argument can be made that he has been the premier ball hawk among players at his position, regardless of whether they play in the boundary or slot.

Unfortunately, while Woolen’s ball production stacks up against the best of the best and he’s flirted with shutdown territory in spurts, opposing quarterbacks have still found success against him, particularly in the red zone. In two of his three seasons, he has yielded at least five touchdowns in coverage, and in addition, he has been prone to an occasional lapse assignment-wise, leading to chunk plays off of busted schemes.

Questions about Woolen’s consistency staying fully locked in coupled with hit-and-miss tackling both against the run and after the catch - he has ranked in the top 10 in missed tackle percentage among corners twice, per PFF - contributed to him being briefly benched by Pete Carroll in 2023 as well as Mike Macdonald last season. That’s far from a good look when multiple head coaches have to send that message taking a star player off the field.

Even with the inconsistencies that have in part coincided with a somewhat raw skill set, if Woolen was the Seahawks best cornerback, it would seem like a no-brainer to show him the money on a three or four-year deal to lock him up as a foundational piece of Macdonald’s defense. The issue, of course, is that it’s debatable at best whether that’s actually the case or not thanks to the presence of former top-five pick Devon Witherspoon.

Statistically, Witherspoon has only one interception in his first two NFL seasons, but he has been a stalwart in the run game with a physical, hard-hitting brand of football while adding elite pass rushing ability from the slot. He also has nearly equaled Woolen in pass breakups with 16 of them since 2023, just one fewer than his counterpart while having the added challenges of playing most of his snaps inside and dealing with two-way routes. Aside from interceptions, he has been the far more complete player and still has room to grow creating turnovers on his own accord.

With Witherspoon now entering his third season and eligible for his own extension next spring, Seattle likely already has a massive extension bookmarked for him, which creates the question of whether or not the franchise can - or even should - pay both him and Woolen.

Spotrac projects that Woolen’s market value will be around $16 million per year, which would currently rank 19th among cornerbacks in the NFL. At face value, a four-year, $63.9 million contract to keep him would not be prohibitive for the Seahawks on the salary cap front, especially considering his fantastic ball production numbers compared to several players earning more ahead of him. Under that scope, a deal could come together before training camp kicks off next month.

But Witherspoon could push for $20 million or more annually when his negotiation window opens up next March, depending on how he performs in his second season in Macdonald’s scheme. Currently, only two teams - the Bears and the Texans - have two cornerbacks under contract with contracts exceeding $13 million per year. No team has two cornerbacks making $16 million or more per year.

Could the Seahawks fit those contracts into their budget? With more than $50 million in cap space for 2026 and over $140 million in cap space for 2027, they could sign both to the aforementioned contracts without a hitch. If they envision each of them being instrumental parts of their defense for the foreseeable future, such an investment would be doable, if not preferred.

On the flip side, though, paying both Woolen and Witherspoon top-15 cornerback money would force general manager John Schneider and the front office to trim fat elsewhere. This could mean tackle Abraham Lucas, outside linebacker Boye Mafe, or safety Coby Bryant hits the market because they no longer fit into the budgetary constraints, leaving another position group or two with significant holes to fill after doubling down at cornerback.

What the Seahawks choose to do could go in either direction, with signs pointing to them allowing Woolen to play out the final year of his contract without an extension and keeping open the possibility of re-signing him after the season ends. Such a strategy does carry risk, as if the speedy corner replicates his rookie year production, he will be a coveted free agent on the market who could command top-five money for the position and still ascend to All-Pro heights.

In that case, Schneider would have no choice but to let him walk with the assumption Witherspoon would be receiving a new deal of his own from Seattle, which could turn out to be a disaster of Steve Hutchinson-like proportions.

Ultimately, over the next few weeks and months, Seattle has to decide whether Woolen is a foundational player in Macdonald’s scheme or not. In the present, even with his immense physical gifts, it remains to be seen if the front office or coaching staff is fully sold on that idea, making the extension that once seemed like a foregone conclusion anything but certain and delivering plenty of intrigue in regard to his potential future with the franchise.