The Philadelphia Eagles are clearly sellers at this year’s NFL trade deadline. Before the deadline, one analyst argued the Pittsburgh Steelers should go shopping at the fire sale.
Steelers Now’s Derrick Bell encouraged the team to target Eagles cornerback Riq Woolen.
“If the Steelers are going to make a move, it really needs to be someone who has a chance to move the needle on the back end. When perusing the reported available names, there’s only one that stands out in that fashion: Philadelphia Eagles corner Riq Woolen,” wrote Bell.
Bell identified Woolen as a Steelers trade target because of his ability to excel in man coverage.
“Woolen is at his best in press coverage, where he can use his 97th-percentile wingspan to disrupt the timing of the release and latch on to wide receivers,” added Bell. “He understands how to compress space along the sideline and has the speed to stay in phase on vertical routes, but his acceleration and closing burst really pop when you see him undercut crossers/in-breakers from initial outside leverage.
“His hips are way more fluid than you’d expect from this archetype. He can play from a pedal, click-and-close on throws underneath, and has shown the ability to bait quarterbacks into mistakes from a tight third alignment with his back to the sideline.”
Bell concluded, writing Woolen “is a swing worth taking” for a fifth- or sixth-round pick for the Steelers.
Woolen won the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks last year. In 2026 NFL free agency, Woolen signed with the Eagles for $12 million on a 1-year contract.
Steelers Urged to Acquire Eagles CB Riq Woolen
Woolen could be available from the Eagles in the final hours before the NFL trade deadline as a rental player. The trade deadline is 4 pm ET Tuesday.
That leaves the Steelers about two hours to negotiate a deal for Woolen.
Bell sees the veteran as a strong replacement for Joey Porter Jr., who was Pittsburgh’s best man-to-man coverage cornerback before the team traded him to the Dallas Cowboys just before Week 4.
Without Porter, the Steelers have played a lot of zone coverage on defense this season. That’s worked. The defense is fourth in points allowed and seventh in yards yielded. Additionally, the Steelers sit ranked ninth in net yards allowed per pass attempt.
But most pundits see that last statistic as a greater reflection on the team’s front seven than the secondary. Overall, the Steelers are 16th in passing yards allowed.
Bell sees Woolen as a necessary addition to help the Steelers secondary against stiffer competition in the second half of the season. The team will face quarterbacks Joe Burrow, Bo Nix, Trevor Lawrence and Bryce Young to end the regular season.
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