Riq Woolen leaves Seahawks for 1-year deal with Eagles

Published 9:36 am Wednesday, March 11, 2026

All season, Mike Macdonald discussed having three starting cornerbacks for two spots.

He coached like that. The defensive architect rotated Josh Jobe, Devon Witherspoon and Riq Woolen among two outside cornerback jobs throughout 2025. It worked, wondrously. The Seahawks won the Super Bowl with three playing as two in their secondary.

Seattle’s problem ended Tuesday. Philadelphia made the Seahawks’ math work for 2026.

Woolen agreed with the NFC East-champion Eagles on a $15 million, one-year contract on the second day of the league’s negotiation period for free agents. Agent Jason Chayut confirmed Woolen’s contract details to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Adam Schefter on Tuesday afternoon.

Woolen is the fourth starter from the Super Bowl champions to leave as a new free agent this week.

Running back Kenneth Walker, the Super Bowl MVP, agreed to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs for three years at $43.05 million.

Safety Coby Bryant went to the Chicago Bears for $40 million over three seasons.

The Cincinnati Bengals spent $20 million per year for three seasons to get Boye Mafe, who played 50% of Seattle’s defensive snaps at outside linebacker this past season.

Philadelphia’s agreement with the long, fast Woolen, Seattle’s Pro Bowl selection as a rookie fifth-round draft choice in 2022, came about 24 hours after the Seahawks made their choice to solve Macdonald’s logjam of starting cornerbacks. They gave Jobe a $24 million, three-year contract to keep him from leaving in free agency instead.

Seattle also signed back Pro Bowl kick returner and wide receiver Rasheed Shaheed to a $51 million, three-year deal.

The Seahawks, Denver Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars are the only three of the 32 NFL teams to not sign a free agent from outside the team this week. All three won at least 13 games and division championships last season. Why they chose Jobe over Woolen

For the last month, Woolen has been wondering what would happen. Would the Seahawks step up with a contract offer they hadn’t been willing to give him?

“Honestly, I don’t know,” the cornerback said last month while cleaning out his locker for what became the final time at Seahawks headquarters two days after they won Super Bowl 60.

“Shoot, it’s their decision. I’ve just got to play my part. If I’m here, I’m here. And that’s it.”

One month later, Woolen’s gone. It’s because Macdonald and general manager John Schneider chose Jobe, a 2022 undrafted rookie free agent waived by the Eagles and signed by Seattle at the end of the 2024 preseason, over Woolen, a Pro Bowl draft pick.

Why?

Macdonald doesn’t like Jobe. He LOVES him.

He loves the 5-foot-11 Jobe’s ability to cover receivers down the field, isolated along his side of the field, with no help. That has allowed the head coach to allocate safeties plus nickel and dime defensive backs to cover other areas of the field, away from Jobe often locking down his side.

Let’s let Pro Bowl veteran safety Julian Love, one of the guys who would have to come over from the middle of the field to give Jobe the help the cornerback hasn’t needed, explain.

“We put him on islands a lot of the time,” Love, formerly a New York Giants cornerback, said last month as they cleaned out their lockers for this offseason.

Love talked about Jobe two days after the Seahawks dominated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60.

“(We) just say, ‘All right, it’s on you,’” Love said. “You don’t have schemes (like), you can’t Mike Macdonald your way through playing corner for us.

“You’ve got to just line up and play ball. He had a tall task all year. And he met that task.”

Jobe has a long-standing relationship with Karl Scott, the Seahawks defensive-backs coach. Scott was Jobe’s position coach at the University of Alabama from 2018-20.

Riq Woolen’s final Seattle season

Woolen had a down, then up — then exasperating — 2025 season.

He struggled in one-on-one coverage in the opening game. San Francisco’s Ricky Pearsall caught a pass for a huge gain past Woolen in the fourth quarter. That play set up Brock Purdy’s game-winning touchdown pass for the 49ers to undrafted tight end Jake Tonges over an unaware Woolen in the end zone. The Seahawks lost 17-13. It was one of only three losses in 20 games for Seattle.

Woolen responded by playing well in October into November. He heard rumors the Seahawks were trying to trade him, but didn’t get an offer they liked by the league deadline in early November.

Woolen also allowed a 31.3% completion rate playing man-to-man coverage this past season, per NFL NextGen Stats. That was the lowest among NFL cornerbacks, per NFL NextGen Stats.

Woolen kept playing so well Macdonald did his three-starters-for-two-spots rotation, including Woolen with Jobe into the postseason.

In the NFC championship game in late January, Woolen made a brilliant play closing on Matthew Stafford’s pass and denying All-Pro wide receiver Puka Nacua the catch for a first down. The Rams prepared to punt while staying down 31-20. The Seahawks were poised to take that two-score lead into the fourth quarter, and thus control of the game late. Los Angeles’ punt team was coming onto the field for a fourth and 12.

But Woolen followed his third-down stop by taunting Rams players and coaches down the sideline where he’d made his play. Officials penalized him for obvious, unsportsmanlike conduct. That 15-yard penalty extended the Rams’ drive.

On the next play, Stafford threw a touchdown pass to Nacua over Woolen. That turned the game into a taut, 31-27 struggle to the finish before the Seahawks won to earn their first Super Bowl appearance in 11 years.

The league fined Woolen $17,389 for his second taunting penalty of the season.

After the game, Woolen stood at his locker in front of reporters and owned his mistake.

“I made a great play,” he said. “I gotta be better than that, celebrate with my team. And the next play, they scored a touchdown. That wouldn’t have happened if I just celebrate with the team. So I gotta be smarter.”

Now he’s richer.

Woolen is going to be earning three times his 2025 salary next season for Philadelphia. He earned $5.4 million last season to end his rookie deal with Seattle. His $15 million salary for the Eagles in 2026 will be $4.2 million more than he’s earned in his first four seasons combined in the NFL, with the Seahawks. He sensed last month he deserved this raise with how he played in 2025.

“It’s been great, just because I feel like it was a true definition of a cornerback,” Woolen said. “Like a true, complete year of tackling, playing the ball, making plays and just contributing towards my team.”