The Eagles have finally agreed to a contract with a free agent – and are one of the last teams to do so.
On Tuesday, the Eagles agreed to a deal with former Pro Bowl corner Riq Woolen.
The deal is reported to be worth up to $15 million.
The deal is “up to” $15 million so what the actual AAV is will likely be lower – similar to how Azeez Ojulari’s contract wound up not counting against the cap.
It’d be hard to imagine the Eagles giving up the third-round pick they are in line for due to losing Jaelen Phillips, so the guess is that the actual AAV is around $12 million and would be in line to cancel out the pick from Nakobe Dean’s departure. That’s just speculation as to how Howie Roseman would likely play it until the contract details are actually announced.
As far as Woolen, it’s certainly a surprise pickup. Very few people were thinking their top free agent addition might be another corner.
Woolen is just 26 and coming off a Super Bowl Championship. He joins a young defensive back group and gets the potential for a contract year in Fangio’s defense – not to mention he had already played under Clint Hurtt when Hurtt was the defensive coordinator in Seattle.
Woolen made the Pro Bowl in 2022 after recording six interceptions in his rookie year along with three fumble recoveries. In the past three years, he’s had only three total interceptions along with two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble.
He finds himself in Philadelphia after seemingly being benched a couple times over the past few years due to diminished play, though that “diminished” play is more in line with a league average/good corner rather than bad – it’s just not how he played in 2022 or even 2023.
With a set of strong corners around him as well as Fangio and Hurtt backing him, he would seem a likely bounce-back candidate that could wind up getting the Eagles a high comp pick next offseason if they don’t re-sign him.
