RENTON — No player on the current Seahawks roster may elicit more questions than cornerback Riq Woolen.
Is the real Woolen the one who looked like a future long-term All-Pro pick as a rookie in 2022 when he emerged from fifth-round sleeper to a player who drew constant comparisons to Richard Sherman?
Or is it the one who has since battled injuries and inconsistency, benched twice in 2023 for playing reasons and once last season for violating a team rule?
Maybe most critically, is Woolen a player the team can trust with a big contract that could make him one of the top-paid cornerbacks in the NFL, or is he potentially playing his final season with the Seahawks as he enters the last year of his rookie contract?
Woolen will make $5.34 million this season after getting a big raise from the roughly $1 million he would have made on his original rookie deal after qualifying for some proven performance escalators, notably having been named to the Pro Bowl in 2022.
He could be in line for a contract that might average more than three or four times that amount as a free agent in 2026, either with the Seahawks or another team.
Woolen said the mystery of his future is one he can’t help but ponder at times while insisting he’s focused on the present.
“It’s funny,’’ Woolen said after practice Tuesday. “It’s human nature — of course it’s on your mind when you think about great things like that. But at the same time, I can’t be too worried, I have to be where my feet are at. That’s being here as a Seahawk. That’s giving everything I’ve got to the place that drafted me. Of course, judgment day is going to come but I’m not worried. I just have to keep doing the same thing I’ve been doing and that’s playing football and keep being a great teammate.”
And through 12 practices of training camp, Woolen has done just that in the eyes of second-year head coach Mike Macdonald.
“I think he’s having a tremendous camp,’’ Macdonald said. “All the things that we’re challenging him to do, he does. He’s there every day.’’
It was Macdonald who had to bench Woolen for the opening series of a December home game against the Vikings for violating a team rule. Without Woolen on the field, the Vikings drove swiftly down the field to score a TD on their opening possession en route to a 27-24 Minnesota win that dealt a death blow to Seattle’s postseason hopes.
It didn’t help that Woolen was among those in coverage when Sam Darnold hit Justin Jefferson with a 39-yard TD pass that won the game in the final minutes.
The winning TD appeared to be more of a Seahawks team breakdown — and maybe mostly just a great play by the Vikings — than the fault of Woolen’s.
But to many fans, it was a game that seemed to symbolize how Woolen’s career has evolved since his breakout rookie season when he tied for first in the NFL in interceptions with six.
He has just five since, with knee and shoulder injuries contributing to some struggles in 2023, and ankle and rib injuries slowing him at times last season.
He also spent last season adjusting to some defensive tweaks instituted by Macdonald that included more man and press coverage as he allowed a passer rating of 83.7 when targeted, a decent number overall but the highest of his career.
“Now that I know the defense I know what’s being asked of me,’’ he said. “I know I have to press a lot. That’s the most I’ve ever pressed in my career, and I did well at it. I want to be more consistent at it, and whenever I do play off, I want to be more consistent in that as well.”
There may be the key word when it comes to Woolen — consistency.
It’s one he turned to a few different times when he spoke to media Tuesday and likely the one that could determine if the Seahawks decide to keep him after this season.
“Being more consistent in my techniques,’’ he said at one point when asked one of his goals for this season.
To that end, Woolen said he added some extra drills on footwork this offseason to try to refine his technique.
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“I’m tall,’’ said the 6-foot-4, 210-pounder. “I’m built like a hooper. You have to have good feet, and I have long feet so I have to have good feet. I can’t be clumsy. That’s one thing I did work on, having good feet this offseason and having great eyes and being patient.”
But in the kind of candid comment that seems to indicate Woolen understands he’s at a critical juncture of his career at age 26, he said what matters more is the mentality he approaches be brings to this season.
“I have to be more locked in,’’ he said. “Football is more mental than physical, if anything. I’m physically gifted with everything that God gave me. It’s just more mental than anything.”
Macdonald indicated that Woolen so far appears to be achieving that goal.
“You guys know Riq,’’ Macdonald said. “He’s a great spirit. He’s the same guy every day, brings a lot of energy to the room, some kind of lightness to everything, some brevity on how he operates. I think he’s one of those guys where he’s also hungry to kind of get to the next level with his game. And we’re challenging him as coaches, but it’s a team effort. I think he’s having a great camp.”
What Woolen surely hopes to do is give the Seahawks a lot to think about after this season.
One thought is that the Seahawks may not have enough money to go around to hand big raises to both Woolen and fellow cornerback Devon Witherspoon, the fifth-overall pick in 2023 who will be eligible for an extension after this season.
Spotrac.com’s current estimation of Woolen’s value is a contract in line with what the 49ers gave Deommodore Lenoir last fall.
Lenoir, who is roughly five months younger than Woolen, signed a five-year deal worth up to $89.8 million but with just $15.48 million guaranteed, with most of the big money backloaded and needing still to be earned.
Woolen, though, surely noticed the contract the New York Jets recently handed cornerback Sauce Gardner, who like Woolen entered the league in 2022.
Gardner, who is a two-time All-Pro pick but also has just three career interceptions compared to Woolen’s 11, signed a four-year extension last month worth up to $120.4 million with $40.5 million guaranteed to make him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history.
But first things first, Woolen said.
“I’ve been trying to be a great teammate,’’ he said of training camp. “I’ve been trying to get better every day, trying to find something to get better at each day and just be a great teammate.”
Bob Condotta: bcondotta@seattletimes.com. Bob Condotta covers the Seahawks for the Seattle Times. He provides daily coverage of the team throughout the year.