Mercurial Seahawks DB named among NFL free agents to avoid in 2026

It's been a wild ride for Riq Woolen this season. In Week 1, Woolen's late lapses in coverage were the main reason why the Seattle Seahawks lost to the San Francisco 49ers. Woolen continued to struggle the next few weeks and eventually he fell out of the rotation in favor of Josh Jobe.

As midseason approached, all signs pointed towards the Seahawks moving their mercurial cornerback to another team before the trade deadline. However, in the end they chose to keep him around - a decision that paid off in a big way in the second half of the season.

Woolen not only rebounded from his bad start, he was playing better than any time since his standout rookie season down the stretch - at one point allowing the fewest yards per target in the entire NFL after Week 7.

Nevertheless, some analysts can't get Woolen's rough stretches out of their minds and believe he's more trouble than he's worth. Here's Bleacher Report on naming Woolen one of their 2026 free agents to avoid signing.

B/R on fading Riq Woolen

"With Woolen's interception count and playing time dipping in recent years—he only had a single pick while playing a career-low 78 percent of defensive snapsand starting just seven of the 16 games he appeared in during the 2025 season—any team hoping to land a star-level cornerback on the open market should be leery... That type of deal could pay dividends if Woolen ends up in a defensive system that maximizes his talents and limits his vulnerabilities, but it could also end up going down as one of the worst signings of the offseason if he fails to fit and ends up as a highly-paid depth option."

This take misses pretty far wide right from where we're sitting.

Even when Woolen was struggling at his worst, it was worth seriously considering keeping him around for the long run in case he could turn things around.

Woolen's poor streches of play are frustrating, but the simple fact is his size, length and athletic profile give him a ceiling that no other cornerback in the sport can match. This is the most-challenging position to play in the modern NFL outside of quarterback, and ups and downs should be considered part of the bargain.

What matters is that Woolen has proven in the second half of 2025 that he can stay disciplined and play lockdown coverage even against a very high level of competition. Hopefully we won't see another regression from Woolen, but even if there are more bad games in his future, the good that he does on the field should be more than worth a long-term investment.

If other teams are indeed leery of signing Woolen, the Seahawks should not hesitate to lock him up for the long run with a lucrative contract.

B/R on fading Riq Woolen

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