Tariq Woolen free agency

Seahawks must now when a good value becomes a bad value

Don’t skim over this part: You don’t love the Seahawks because the players made the team good, you love the good players because the front office made them Seahawks.

Far be it from me to presume why you love the Seahawks, but we did do a survey at Seaside Joe last month and the vast majority of you said that you became fans of the team because of where you were born. A completely random twist of fate that you had no control over and that’s why you’re a fan.

That was certainly the case with me!

Or you were looking for a team to root for at a time when the Seahawks would happen to appeal to you, at that specific moment, and the team connected with you and only you for whatever reasons mattered in that split-second decision of fate to become a fan.

That was the case for many of our international Seahawks fans who subscribe to the newsletter!

One of you became a Seahawks fan because of a gumball machine! Another one of you chose Seattle because you wanted to be a contrarian! Some of you chose the Seahawks because that’s who your parents rooted for and others picked Seattle specifically to defy their parents!

But elsewhere at that exact second that you became a Seahawks fan, somebody else, somewhere else (maybe far from you or right next door), also chose an NFL team under similar circumstances…but it might have been the Patriots. Or the Chargers. Or the Eagles.

If they’re lucky, it wasn’t the Jets.

In any of these cases, you became a Seahawks fan and —every single player on that team left and was replaced by a new 53-man roster— and you’re still a Seahawks fan! And then you became a fan of all those new players. It didn’t make you appreciate the departed players any less, but you did move on…and quickly.

Unless you became a fan within the last few years — and that’s perfectly fine if you did! — every player on your first favorite Seahawks roster has been replaced…probably many times over.

Even the fan that said he became a Seahawks fan because he’s a Penn State fan and Curt Warner was drafted by Seattle, he’s still a Seahawks fan 35 years after Warner’s last game with the team.

I have come across thousands of Seahawks fans and the only case I can remember of a person who followed the team because of a player and then changed his allegiance when that player left was “hawkbadger”, a Twitter user who was obsessed with Russell Wilson and many of you know exactly who I’m talking about because he was just that “apparent” with his adoration for Russ. I think he may have changed his twitter account to “broncobadger” after the trade.

That’s it. He’s the only one.

I know that this intro will invite examples to the contrary but nothing more than the exception that proves the rule.

Everybody who is here is a bigger fan of the name on the front of the jersey (“SEAHAWKS”), not the one on the back.

However:

This proof of a constant NFL franchise ecosystem that recycles the roster with new “favorite Seahawks” on an ANNUAL BASIS will never change the fact that every offseason when we get to free agency, cap casualties, trades, and the draft, fans will make arguments for Seattle to make moves that would HURT THE TEAM at the behest of KEEPING THE PLAYER.

• Logically, you know that your ultimate desire is for the Seahawks to keep winning infinitum.

• Emotionally, you want to believe that Steve Largent could still catch 50 passes if he was still on the team today.

It is inevitable that we are going to keep having the same chats at the same time of every year.

From Lockett to Kupp to who ever is next

In 2024, I said that the Seahawks would have to do no less than demand Tyler Lockett to take a pay cut if he was going to stay on the team. Lockett took a pay cut. In 2025, I said that Lockett would have to be replaced based on the obvious deterioration of his skill and value on the field the season prior, and Lockett was released.

For over a year before it happened, I said that the team should and probably would trade DK Metcalf, as DK was probably going to demand a new contract. DK demanded a new contract, Seattle traded him to the Steelers.

In both cases, very smart, very loyal, and very rational Seahawks fans argued that Seattle could win a Super Bowl with Lockett and Metcalf. I’m not being sarcastic:

Wanting the Seahawks to keep players that entertained you is not dumb. It’s fandom!

But 12 months and a Super Bowl later … I did not hear anybody say that they wished the Seahawks had kept Lockett or Metcalf. Nobody even said that they missed Lockett because I don’t think anybody spent a single second thinking about Tyler Lockett since about two days after he was released.

That doesn’t diminish Lockett’s legacy. It doesn’t diminish how much you appreciate him. You’ll have fond memories of Lockett decades from now, just as you have nostalgia and respect for Largent and Warner!

It just means that in the NFL, there is always a time to move on from your favorite players and the best time to do that is BEFORE you know it’s time.

Seahawks fans, hear me out:

-Parting ways with Tariq Woolen will make the Seahawks BETTER.

-Paying Tariq Woolen the contract that he wants will make the Seahawks WORSE.

In order for Seattle to increase their odds of sustaining their Super Bowl window for as long as possible, they will need to spend their money wisely and nowhere do the contracts get more scrutinized than at the very top. Based on the historical cases of cornerbacks like Woolen and the probability that he’s going to demand a top-tier salary, the Seahawks will need to save that amount of cap space for the rest of the roster.

I didn’t make a lot of friends when I said it was time to part ways with Metcalf and Geno Smith. But you count on John Schneider for business, not friendship.

The upside

The only thing more apparent with Woolen than his many frustrating attributes is his immense talent.

It would be boring and necessary to repeat his pre-draft workout traits.

The upside is that I’m not the only person who realizes that Woolen had a reduced role in the second half of the season and his market isn’t nearly as robust as we think. Here you see that in the last seven games, Woolen only appeared in 62% of the snaps.

Woolen played 75% of the snaps in the playoffs.

Compared to Devon Witherspoon, Derek Stingley, or Sauce Gardner, we would expect a CB1 to appear in at least 90% of the snaps. For Woolen to have a reduced role in Seattle, it does more than just imply that Mike Macdonald felt the defense would still be elite when he wasn’t on the field.

Woolen intercepted one pass during the season but allowed six touchdowns, including three touchdowns in the last two playoff games.

So while I’ve seen Seahawks media or fans suggest that Woolen would be worthy of the franchise tag, it’d be quite the overpay to give a part-time cornerback $21.5 million next season.

Woolen seems to be moving on from Seattle (wouldn’t you if you weren’t starting anymore?) and the Seahawks should be ready for the next move. If he does return, the upside is that he signs a one-year prove-it deal.

If he doesn’t return, the upside is a 2027 compensatory pick.

The downside

He’s always been the defensive version of DK Metcalf.

Yeah.

Woolen had 11 penalties in 2025, including three for taunting.

Whereas pass interference could be a bad flag or a potentially a good decision if it prevents a touchdown, taunting is just dumb. Taunting as a player who has been losing snaps throughout the season is confusing.

Prediction: He could go to the Rams

It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

The Seahawks aren’t going to bring back all the players who they won the Super Bowl with and given that Witherspoon is now extension eligible, Seattle’s cornerback budget is as good as spent. You couldn’t give enough credit to Schneider and Pete Carroll for getting a value like Woolen out of the fifth round, but it’s just as important to know when to cash in your chips.

Time to go make someone else a new Seahawk.

Seaside Joe 2545