Heading into the 2026 NFL offseason, there's a lot of buzz about players being linked to certain teams or rumors of blockbuster trades.
While most of these are just rumors, for the Seattle Seahawks, there is one such rumor that is very likely to come true this offseason.
As ESPN's Brady Henderson notes, Riq Woolen, the polarizing Seahawks cornerback, is expected to leave in free agency. As Henderson writes, this was an "easy call."
Seahawks' Riq Woolen expected to leave in FA
"FA most likely on the move: Woolen is the easy call," Henderson writes. "With a mini-benching in 2024, a demotion to the No. 3 corner in 2025, and the Seahawks open to trading him at the deadline in November, the writing has clearly been on the wall."
While players like Kenneth Walker III and Rashid Shaheed have been rumored to be leaving Seattle this offseason, those two could both return, and it wouldn't be a surprise.
Woolen, on the other hand, despite being in similar rumors about leaving the Seahawks for a new team, if he were to return to Seattle, it would be a surprise.
Thanks to his mini-benching, a demotion, and the trade rumors this past trade deadline, there's little reason to believe Woolen will be sticking around in Seattle for 2026 and beyond.
Add on the massive extension coming up for Devon Witherspoon, there's little reason for the Seahawks to spend so much on Woolen, a cornerback who was demoted to No. 3 on the depth chart last season.
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He's still a good, young cornerback who will surely have suitors. The 26-year-old is a ball-hawking Pro Bowl cornerback who has 12 career interceptions and 53 passes defended over the last four seasons.
Some team will take a chance on him. And he deserves that chance and the big payday. But, for the Seahawks, with their other contract issues and needs, retaining Woolen makes little sense.
If there were one player among the Seahawks' free agents most likely to leave this offseason, Woolen would be the obvious answer.
Henderson expects Woolen to find a new team this offseason, and with how obvious this rumor is, Seahawks fans should be prepared for Woolen to sign a big deal this offseason with a new team as well.
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