Can the Eagles’ Riq Woolen be Howie Roseman’s next one-year success story?

Riq Woolen had made up his mind. In early December 2019, the 6-foot-4 athlete — who had spent the final few games of that season at cornerback, despite playing wide receiver his whole life — walked through the door of the UTSA coaches’ room, ready to tell the new staff that he wanted to revert to his old position.

His decision made sense. NFL defensive backs are approximately 5-foot-11 on average, according to Stathead data, and wide receivers typically are taller, so Woolen figured his best shot of making the league was on offense.

Then a former Eagle changed his life.

“He walks in the door, and I’m like, ‘What the frick? This dude looks like a basketball player,’” said Nick Graham, UTSA’s cornerbacks coach who played defensive back for the Eagles in 2007. “So then I watched his film with him, and I was like, ‘Oh hell yeah, you don’t need to move back to receiver. If you stay at corner, you’ll be a league guy, no doubt.’”

Graham’s gambit paid off. Two seasons and one successful combine performance later, Woolen was selected by the Seahawks in the fifth round (153rd overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft. The decision continued to pay off in Seattle, where Woolen became a Pro Bowler and All-Pro in 2022 and a key member of their Super Bowl team last season.

And yet, when Woolen finally hit free agency this spring, league-wide interest was low because of his inconsistent play in 2025.

That’s when Eagles general manager Howie Roseman stepped in. In signing Woolen to a one-year deal worth up to $15 million, Roseman utilized a strategy that has worked well for him: Sign an underappreciated, perhaps disgruntled, player to a one-year deal and hope it pays off.

Linebacker Zack Baun — who signed a one-year deal with the Eagles in 2024 — went from an afterthought with the New Orleans Saints to a two-time Pro-Bowler under defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, running back LeGarrette Blount, and cornerback Patrick Robinson, all of whom signed one-year deals in 2017, helped the team to its first Super Bowl win that season.

Can Woolen, 27, be Howie’s next one-year wonder in Philadelphia?

“I’d bet on Howie for sure, and I’d bet on Tariq for damn sure,” UTSA coach Jeff Traylor said.

Before examining Woolen’s likelihood of living up to that, we must first dive into how he got here. Critical mental errors over the last two seasons were his downfall. Woolen experienced a nadir in Seattle’s 2025 season opener, when he gave up a 45-yard completion near the sidelines and a touchdown in the end zone on the San Francisco 49ers’ game-winning drive. In the first six weeks, Woolen ranked near the bottom of the league in passer rating against (116.3). He corrected this in the final 12 weeks, climbing up to the sixth-best number among cornerbacks (57.2).

The damage had been done, though. The fluctuating nature of Woolen’s play was the final straw for the Seahawks. Those closest to Woolen believe coach Mike Macdonald’s regime didn’t trust him as much as Pete Carroll’s — which is the driving force behind the “big chip on his shoulder” this season.

“The thing that I’m excited for him is the clean slate,” Graham said. “He’s going to a place where he’s wanted. I know the first regime in Seattle wanted him … I don’t know that it was like that with the second one.”

On paper, Fangio’s scheme should reignite his Pro Bowl form. Woolen had one of the best seasons in recent years in man coverage — according to Next Gen Stats, his 27.6% completion rate allowed in man coverage was the lowest by any defender to face 20-plus targets in man since at least 2018. The Seahawks deployed man coverages on just 15.2% of their defensive snaps, which was the sixth-fewest in the NFL, according to Sharp Analytics. The Eagles, meanwhile, used man coverage on 24.5% of their snaps last season.

If this trend continues (and Woolen stays consistent), Fangio could have one of the best cornerback trios in the league in Woolen, along with Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, who are Pro Bowlers in their own right.

How has the chemistry been with that group so far?

“It’s pretty cool because it’s just learning how to fit in with these guys,” Woolen said. “I know my personality. I get along well with everybody. So just being able to become close with these guys, that’s all I really care about.

“I’ve got to be the best version of myself, and for me to do that, I’ve got to be comfortable with them, and they’ve got to be comfortable with me, and they’ve got to get to know me, and I’ve got to know them.”

Unlocking the “best version” of Woolen is no simple task. This offseason was a microcosm of his career — with peaks during OTAs, when he looked like the team’s best defender, and the valleys on Day 1 of the Eagles’ joint practice in New England, when A.J. Brown and the Patriots wide receiving corps torched him (before Woolen redeemed himself with a pair of interceptions on Day 2).

Fangio perhaps put it best when asked about Woolen in early August.

“At times he can get a little lazy or sloppy with his technique and have a bad down or two, but he’s still showing everything that I think he can do,” Fangio said. “He’s just got to get in such great shape and calloused to football that those don’t happen.”

Graham has a different interpretation of Woolen’s work ethic — and believes that, under Fangio’s defense and direct coaching style, he’ll earn an even bigger contract next season.

“I think that Riq makes stuff look so easy sometimes that you almost think it’s lazy — but it’s really not,” Graham said. “I know Vic coaches hard … but he’s probably Santa Claus compared to me. Because [Fangio’s] still talking to pros. I coached extremely hard. So I don’t think that type of stuff bothers him. But I think there is a next level … I think he’s a $15 to $20 million per year corner, long-term.

“I think other people believe that, too, but you know how the league is — it’s very small. Somebody says something [about a player], and then that’s gospel.
He’s excited to go prove all these people wrong.”

It’s unlikely Woolen will be an Eagle for long. The team handed out a massive extension to defensive tackle Jalen Carter this offseason and still needs to extend Mitchell and Cooper. Nevertheless, it’s clear his teammates are ecstatic to have him — even if he’s just a one-year wonder.

“A lot of people [across the NFL] talk bad about him, and I’m like ‘What are you talking about?’” said Jordan Mailata. “He’s a f—ing tree. He’s built like a tree, son. We watch the film of practices, you can see the impact that he has on that defense, just being able to be on the island. All day every day, the ground he can cover, he’s f—ing big.”

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The Eagles’ regular season roster is set - for now. How ready is the team for the new year, and will the talent be enough for the Eagles to get back to Super Bowl contention? The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and Mike Sielski examine general manager Howie Roseman’s final roster decisions in the aftermath of cutdown day. Listen here.

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