Seahawks’ Woolen remains confident ahead of Super Bowl, pending free agency
The rollercoaster experience of Riq Woolen — who has played like one of the NFL’s best cornerbacks, gotten benched, mentioned in trade rumors, nearly cost the Seahawks a win with a crippling and unnecessary personal foul in the NFC championship game — is twisting into an apex Sunday in the Super Bowl.
“You can’t tuck your tail, you can’t be hiding from it, because that’s part of the competition,” Woolen said Thursday.
Seattle’s boisterous defensive back won’t be shying away from the opportunity Sunday against the New England Patriots. It will undoubtedly be the biggest game of the 26-year-old’s career, and potentially an inflection point for his future with the Seahawks.
Woolen is slated for unrestricted free agency after the season. He could be one of the most in-demand players on the market, leaving Seattle’s brass with the difficult decision of having to pay him top dollar while other players key to their Super Bowl run are in line for new contracts.
One could be Devon Witherspoon, the fifth-overall pick in the 2023 draft who has been named to the Pro Bowl in all three of his seasons and earned second-team All-Pro recognition this year. He’s eligible for a new contract this offseason, which could make it difficult for Seahawks general manager John Schneider to pay two corners at lucrative rates.
The idea that the Super Bowl could be Woolen’s final game with Seattle isn’t lost on him.
“I feel like I’ve played so well that I’ve shown that I am one of the best corners in this league,” Woolen said. “Wherever God has for me after this season, I know he’s been doing the greatest job ever having me here on my team, having me be a better person, especially because of all the stuff I’ve been through during the season. Wherever lays for me ahead after the Super Bowl, I know God will put me in the right position.”
Woolen began his career as a Pro Bowler during his rookie season, when he led the NFL with six interceptions. But it’s been a mixed bag since, which has included benchings and inconsistent play. He was reportedly the center of trade discussions earlier in the season and nearly had one of the biggest blunders in Seattle sports history with his taunting penalty in the third quarter of the NFC title game against the Rams and then allowing a touchdown in coverage of Puka Nacua that made it a one-possession game.
Woolen was fined for his smack talk on the Rams sideline following a third-down stop while the resulting flag extended L.A.’s scoring drive. Had the Seahawks lost the game, Woolen’s career in Seattle would have been irreparably damaged, while a Super Bowl win on Sunday would make the sequence an innocuous footnote.
After the drive, Woolen heard about it from rookie safety Nick Emmanwori, who confronted him on the sideline. The two had to be separated by teammates.
Emmanwori, who rolled his ankle during practice Wednesday but is expected to play Sunday, said the interaction reflects the strength of the team and their relationship.
“I think looking back to that, I think is made us closer a little bit honestly,” Emmanwori said. “We were already super close, so we already had the ability to have those conversations and uncomfortable confrontations on the sideline. Even if it was him coming to me or me coming to him, or somebody else coming to somebody else. I think us doing that just solidifies what type of team we are and the brotherhood (that we have).
“He knows he was wrong for that, he knew he messed up, so nobody else had to tell him.”
Said Woolen: “It’s because we know each other so well. We know that whenever we have those types of moments, it’s not coming from a bad place. Everybody here is so tight. We’re like a family.”
Woolen noted he responded and had good coverage on a long incompletion on a post route to Konata Mumpfield that helped prevent a touchdown on a pass overthrown by Matthew Stafford. The Rams’ drive ended in a fourth-down incompletion in the end zone from Seattle’s 6-yard line which was decisive in the Seahawks 31-27 win.
Woolen is hoping to use events as a learning experience that can help the Seahawks on Sunday.
“That whole sequence just summarizes the life of a cornerback,” Woolen said. “But also it just shows that you got to be smarter too, because when you think about it, I made a great a play on third-and-long. We would have been off the field. We already had a long series. We’re all tired, I’m tired. And you made a play, and in those moments you got to be able to celebrate with your teammates.
“It showed you just got to keep playing, especially in that magnitude of a game.”
This story was originally published February 6, 2026 at 9:59 AM with the headline "Seahawks’ Woolen remains confident ahead of Super Bowl, pending free agency."
