We Are Once Again Asking the Vikings to Trade for One Guy
We’ve done it before, and we’re doing it again — endorsing a Minnesota Vikings trade with the Seattle Seahawks for cornerback Tariq Woolen.
One NFC defender should be on the Vikings’ trade radar. With the secondary a little suspect, it just makes all the sense in the world. Do it.
The guy who Seattle benched in a game last year for mysterious reasons remains on the Seahawks’ depth chart, and Mike Macdonald’s team already employs corners Devon Witherspoon and Josh Jobe.
Woolen could realistically be attainable via trade, and the Vikings should pounce.
The Vikings Should Trade for CB Tariq Woolen
If there are no trades or free-agent signings, Minnesota will roll into the 2025 regular season with some mixture of Byron Murphy Jr., Isaiah Rodgers, Mekhi Blackmon, Jeff Okudah, and Dwight McGlothern at cornerback. Little-known corner Ambry Thomas may get some summer love, too.
But isn’t this current purple roster all about building a monster to support and empower J.J. McCarthy’s introduction to the NFL? Isn’t this current purple roster all about contending for a Super Bowl for the next three years, while McCarthy’s contract is affordable?
If yes, Minnesota probably needs another cornerback with a more proven starting track record than Isaiah Rodgers.
And that’s where the Woolen trade emerges.
Final Year of His Contract in Seattle
Woolen is due for a contract extension — like now. There are zero rumblings about that in Seattle at the moment. Do you know how some Vikings’ offseason talkers have turned attention to Josh Metellus requesting an extension? That’s not happening with Woolen.
It seems that Woolen will play out the final year of his rookie deal and vamoose to free agency in nine months. Before he gets there, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah should steal him away from the Seahawks and hand him a respectable extension.
Brian Flores Likes Big, Physical CBs
Defensive coordinator Brian Flores “has a thing” for tall, beefy cornerbacks. It’s why Minnesota tried to empower Joejuan Williams into a roster spot during the 2023 offseason.
Woolen is 6’4″ and 210 pounds — about as big as they can get for a cornerback in the NFL. He’s like a true seven-foot center in the NBA who’s not built like Chet Holmgren.
Here’s Woolen’s passer rating against in the last three seasons:
- 2024: 76.9
- 2023: 79.8
- 2022: 48.7
When locked in — Flores should be able to lock him in — the guy is a beast and a stud.
It Doesn’t Have to Cost a First-Rounder
This would-be Vikings trade for Tariq Woolen need not break the bank.
Trade Price Estimate
The sweet part? Minnesota won’t have to donate a king’s ransom or anything close to it for Woolen, if this is play in the first place. He’s a productive, huge corner on an expiring contract. Adofo-Mensah might be able to fire off a 3rd-Round or 4th-Round pick to Seahawks general manager John Schneider and call it good.
Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-USA TODAY Sports.
Believe it or not, Minnesota’s draft capital piggybank is not diminished for 2026 as it was for 2025. Adofo-Mensah pretty much has most of his picks (sans a 4th-Rounder from the Cam Robinson trade) and then some on the way via the compensatory pick process.
He should send his 2026 3rd-Rounder to Seattle for Woolen and a 6th-Rounder (as an example). Everybody wins.
One More Starter to Top off the Offseason
Trading for Woolen would disable all fears about the Vikings’ 2025 roster weaknesses. They don’t have many, but if a hardcore fan had to choose, she’d probably pick cornerback as the spot that could use one more enhancement.
Woolen can be the ginormous — literally — enhancement.
The Skinny from Seahawks-Themed Media on Woolen
SI.com‘s Tim Weaver wrote about Woolen earlier this month, “Even though his physical gifts are unmatched at his position, heading into the final year of Woolen’s contract, it’s not even certain that he’ll be returning to Seattle next season. Perhaps it would have been better for Woolen to be just a tiny bit less athletic, if it had lit a fire under him.”
“In his prime years Sherman performed at an All-Pro level every single snap because he wanted to prove that he was the best at what he did and would waste no opportunity to rub it in your face. By comparison, Woolen just doesn’t seem to have that same killer instinct – and that’s not something that athletes tend to grow over time.”
This sounds like a man who will find the Seattle off-ramp as soon as the 2026 offseason.
Weaver added, “There are exceptions, though — such as the newfound lethally-motivated attitude that the equally-ultra-talented LeBron James adopted when he joined the Miami Heat in his eighth season. Woolen’s new teammate Sam Darnold is another example of an athlete having a late-blooming killer instinct take their game to the next level.”
“Unfortunately, Woolen might need to be humbled in order to feel pissed off enough to wrestle away the title of the NFL’s best cornerback away from his competition. Perhaps that won’t happen unless the team that drafted him decides to sell high and trade him somewhere else.”
This can be simple. Send a mid-rounder to Seattle for Woolen and prosper. The guy has the tools and the resume. Minnesota has the draft capital.
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