Riq Woolen trade proposal would kill two birds with one stone for Seahawks

On Sunday NFL Network's Ian Rapoport broke the news that teams around the NFL were monitoring Seattle Seahawks scornerback Riq Woolen as a possible trade target ahead of the trade deadline, which falls on November 4 this year. While that's probably true, it also wouldn't have been a scoop if the Seahawks didn't want it out there to try to lure more offers.

Yesterday we went over a few different teams who might be interested in trading for Woolen, all of whom are not getting great cornerback play this season. That list includes the Raiders, who have the Pete Carroll connection - and the Ravens, who have the inside track with Mike Macdonald.

One team we didn't consider is the Jacksonville Jaguars, who have been surprisingly good this season under first-year head coach Liam Coen. According to long-time Seahawks analyst Rob Staton, Jacksonville should be the team Seattle deals with - and their target should be linebacker Devin Lloyd rather than draft compensation.

"A deal involving a pick wouldn’t likely get much other than a late rounder. A sixth maybe? Something minimal anyway. A more attractive option could be to find a player-for-player arrangement. Here’s my suggestion — Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd."

While Woolen's name outweighs Lloyd's by a good amount, there is some logic, here. For one thing, Staton is right that the Seahawks are unlikely to get a meaningful pick in return for Woolen given how poorly he's been playing this year.

For another, adding a piece like Lloyd while subtracting Woolen would eliminate Seattle's two biggest defensive liabilities at once. In coverage the team's weakest link is definitely Woolen, who's become a regular target for opposing playcallers in the clutch.

When it comes to tackling the weak spot is probably second-year inside linebacker Tyrice Knight. While he's got a lot of potential and plays tight coverage for his position, Knight's tackling isn't quite as sharp as you'd like it to be, which has resulted in some big gains this season - most notably Jaylen Warren's 65-yard catch and run in Week 2, which began by slipping a tackle attempt from Knight.

By comparison Lloyd is more seasoned and more certain as a tackler - in fact he's yet to miss a single tackle attempt this season.

If it does work out, then the Seahawks would be first in line to re-sign Lloyd to a new contract, if that's something they're interested in. If it doesn't, then at least they got something in return for Woolen, who is likely to earn more money with another team if he winds up hitting the open market in March.

While we like the Lloyd idea, this same logic might be better put to use to plug a more significant hole on the other side of the ball. Despite a strong preseason showing, right guard and center are once again the Seahawks' biggest holes on offense. If they could dump Woolen and land a solid starter at one of those spots it would probably make a bigger impact than getting a linebacker.

More Seahawks on SI stories