Riq Woolen was standing in the only NFL locker room he knows. Inside the only team facility he knows. With the only equipment guys and training room staff in the only league city he knows.
Now that he’s a Super Bowl champion with an expired contract, will all his same stay the same for next season? Was Tuesday the last time Woolen will clean out his locker at the end of a Seahawks season?
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Honestly, I don’t know,” the Pro Bowl cornerback as a rookie in 2022 with Seattle said. “Man, you know, I’m still just soaking in this season with my team.
“Whatever God has for me He has for me. His plan has never failed me. His plan has kept me here to be in the position that I’m in here now. So I just try to trust His plan.
“And I just do on my end my plan, as well: Which is to be with my teammates and enjoy this Super Bowl win.”
Woolen is one of four prominent Seahawks whose contracts expired Sunday with the end of Seattle’s 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots. He, Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Kenneth Walker, Pro Bowl kick returner and wide receiver Rashid Shaheed and starting safety Coby Bryant are all due to become free agents for the first time when the market opens with the annual negotition period starting March 9. The Seahawks have an estimated $72.3 million in salary-cap space for what’s expected to be a 2026 league cap of $303.5 million, per overthecap.com. That’s the sixth-most cap space for next season in the league, and second-highest among teams that made the playoffs in the 2025 season (the Chargers have $83.5 million in cap space).
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe NFL will set its salary cap before the league year March 11.
Because the Seahawks played the longest season possible, through the Super Bowl, that’s only four weeks for their team to decide which to re-sign and which to let go into unrestricted free agency.
Precedence and the league’s salary cap say they won’t keep all of them. Shaheed, 27, seems like a lock to return. The Seahawks gave up two third-day picks for a game-breaking returner who was a key difference-maker the last months of the season plus in the playoffs. He’s said he not only wants to return to Seattle, he wants to retire here.
Walker’s value has skyrocketed through his strong playoffs and Super Bowl MVP performances of 135 yards rushing and 161 yards from scrimmage.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBryant and Woolen are interesting cases on how much the Seahawks want to bring back all their guys of a title-winning team.
Tariq Woolen talking in the Seahawks locker room at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, two days after he and his team won Super Bowl 60 in Santa Clara, California. (Gregg Bell/The News Tribune)Woolen on Tuesday in Renton said the same thing Walker said Monday in San Francisco at his NFL press conference for being the Super Bowl MVP: General manager John Schneider or no one from the Seahawks have talked to him or his agent (Jason Chayut of SportStars) about an extension to stay in Seattle. “Honestly, I don’t know,” Woolen said. “Shoot, it’s their decision. I’ve just got to play my part.
“If I’m here, I’m here. And that’s it.”
Woolen also said this that Walker said: They want to stay with the Seahawks, the team that drafted them and gave them their featured roles to be on the cusp of generational wealth.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWoolen and Walker share one more commonality: Their coaches limited both their roles into job shares this season.
Walker split his running-back carries and catches with Zach Charbonnet, until Charbonnet tore knee ligaments last month in the team’s win over San Francisco in the NFC divisional playoffs.
Tariq Woolen’s reduced, improved 2025
Woolen was part of a rotation at cornerback, effectively with Josh Jobe while three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Devon Witherspoon mostly stayed on the field in all of coach Mike Macdonald’s defenses. Witherspoon, who got The News Tribune’s vote in the official NFL balloting of 16 media members nationally for Super Bowl MVP, played 93% of Seattle’s defensive snaps this season. Woolen and Jobe each played 78% of snaps. Woolen started only seven games this season, after 14, 15 and 17 starts his first three seasons. “I just approached it the best I could, man,” he said of his reduced role.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWoolen gave up key catches including the winning touchdown in week one against San Francisco. He had two taunting penalties, including one on third down woofin’ at the Rams sideline after his pass break-up that extended Los Angeles’ drive in the third quarter in a tense NFC championship game two weeks ago. On the next play after that penalty, Puka Nacua ran past him for a Rams touchdown that trimmed Seattle’s lead to 31-27. The Seahawks shopped Woolen to the league before the trading deadline in early November, but did not find an offer they liked. So they kept him. If they lose him in a free agency now they stand to receive a mid-round compensatory draft choice for 2027, pending other signings.
After he didn’t get traded, Woolen shined over the latter half of this season. He made big plays on passes, particularly into the end zone to deny touchdowns. His tackling improved; Woolen allowed his fewest yards per reception against (8.9) and fewest yards per target against (4.8) in his career.
How does Woolen assess his 2025 season? “It’s been great, just because I feel like it was a true definition of a cornerback,” he said. “Like a true, complete year of tackling, playing the ball, making plays and just contributing towards my team.”
Woolen has earned $10.8 million in his four NFL seasons after Seattle selected him in the fifth round in 2022. His estimated market value is $8.2 million per year on a new contract, per spotrac.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Seahawks could keep Woolen for one year under a franchise tag. That franchise-tag cost, the average of the top salaries per position, for cornerbacks for the 2026 season is expected to be a step $21.4 million guaranteed. Woolen earned $5.3 million thanks to playing-time and performance escalators this season to end his rookie contract.
If Seattle wanted to use a franchise tag to keep Walker for 2026, it would cost $14.5 million guaranteed. He made just $1.86 million this season, on his contract as Seattle’s second-round pick in 2022.
Woolen talked Tuesday how he’s grown from age 22 to 26 in Seattle.
“I played well previous years,” he said. “And people don’t like to compare years to others, but at the same time I feel like I’ve just grown and become a better player throughout each year. I feel like every obstacle that’s been thrown my way, I’ve overcome every, single one of them.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I just feel like I’ve grown and became a great player.
“And now I’m a Super Bowl champ.”
Seattle Seahawks defensive end Mike Morris (94), left, and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen (27) react to the NFC Championship trophy at Lumen Field, on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Seattle.Coby Bryant wants to stay
A second starter on defense could be gone in free agency next month.
Bryant has gone from nickel cornerback to cornerback to safety in his Seahawks and NFL career the four years since the team drafted him. He’s gone from reserve and special-teams contributor to starter Macdonald loves for his instincts, hard-hitting and breaks on passes in the air.
Asked what he’s going to do between now and free agency beginning in four weeks, Bryant, a Cleveland native, said he’s going someplace warm to hang out.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I’m going to spend time with my family,” he said. “I haven’t heard anything (from the team about a possible new deal).
“Yes, I would like to be here. This is home for me, honestly. I came in here, 22 years old, watched myself grow.
“I would definitely love to be here.”
Seattle Seahawks safety Coby Bryant (8) dives for a stray pass from Minnesota Vikings quarterback Max Brosmer (12) during the first quarter of the game at Lumen Field, on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, in Seattle.AdvertisementAdvertisement
