The Los Angeles Rams made one move at the NFL trade deadline to beef up their secondary after acquiring former Tennessee Titans cornerback Roger McCreary. The move solidified Chris Shula’s unit for the second half of the season, and set the team up to make bigger chances in 2026.
Five Rams defensive backs — cornerbacks McCreary, Akhello Witherspoon and Cobie Durant, as well as safeties Quentin Lake and Kamren Curl — are all impending free agents and Darious Williams doesn’t have any guaranteed left on his contract. That leaves a potential huge void to fill this offseason, one Les Snead may want to fill in both the draft and in free agency.
One name that could be on the Rams’ radar is Seattle Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen. Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox wrote that the Rams could be a destination for Woolen if the Seahawks let the one-time Pro Bowler walk this offseason.
For whatever reason, Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald has soured on cornerback Riq Woolen over the past couple of years, leading to plenty of trade buzz centered on the 26-year-old.
“They’ve been wanting to move him for a while,” one executive said, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. “He doesn’t fit what [head coach Mike Macdonald] wants to do.”
Woolen will fit what plenty of teams are looking for on defense. He’s a 6’4″, 210-pound defensive back with 11 interceptions on his resume. As a rookie in 2022, the Texas-San Antonio product allowed an opposing passer rating of only 48.7 in coverage.
Charvarius Ward’s $18 million-per-season contract from last offseason should provide a baseline for Woolen’s next contract.
Woolen wasn’t traded at the deadline, meaning there’s a chance he returns to Seattle or joins another team in free agency. He would be a welcome addition to the Rams if Snead, Sean McVay and Shula want to spend a lot at cornerback. That hasn’t been the case since Jalen Ramsey, so this might be a wait-and-see position for the Rams — especially in a good defensive back draft class.
Woolen also hasn’t been very good in recent years. After his six-interception rookie season, he’s only tallied five interceptions from 2023 to now, and none in 2025. Some of that is because of the new defensive scheme in Seattle, though, so perhaps a change of scenery could help Woolen like it did with Emmanuel Forbes Jr.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams picked as possible landing spot for impending 2026 free-agent CB
Reporting by Tyler Greenawalt, Rams Wire / Rams Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
