The Seahawks entered the 2026 season with a cornerback room that still raised questions, even with one of the NFL’s highest-paid corners on the roster. Seattle added help around the group, bringing in third-round pick Julian Neal, former All-Pro Trevon Diggs and Terrion Arnold, who is currently on the Commissioner’s Exempt List amid facing eight pending felony charges.
That backdrop made the departure of Riq Woolen matter all the more. Woolen left in free agency after the Seahawks declined to match his market value following three uneven seasons, and it opened a lane for Nehemiah Pritchett to claim a bigger role.
He wasted no time making a case in the season-opening win over the New England Patriots. Pritchett was the Seahawks’ No. 3 cornerback and turned in the strongest outing of his short career. Devon Witherspoon and Josh Jobe remain the top two options, but Pritchett should still see plenty of snaps this year.
“Nehemiah Pritchett played a really good football game,” Mike Macdonald said Thursday, one day after the Week 1 victory.
“Yeah, he had some great tackles yesterday - the whole secondary did.”
A fifth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Pritchett had a limited defensive role across his first two seasons. He played more on defense as a rookie, logging 151 snaps, than he did in Year 2, when that number dropped to 91. Part of that came because Jobe had not yet settled into a starting job in 2024.
Against New England, Pritchett played 53 snaps and finished with six tackles, two pass deflections and an interception. It was his first career pick, and it came after safety Rodney Thomas II nearly came away with the ball.
The interception was the headline play, but it was not the only thing that stood out. Pritchett also showed he can finish plays at the line and in space, which drew a specific mention from Macdonald.
That kind of balance matters at cornerback, where depth can get tricky if backups are only useful in one phase. Pritchett gives Seattle a third option behind Jobe and Witherspoon who can contribute in more than one way.
He may have the inside track to hold that job all season, particularly if Arnold and Diggs don’t live up to their past reputations - or, in Arnold’s case, are not available to play at all. With Pritchett now in the second-to-last season of his rookie deal, the timing is right for him to make this the year he breaks through.
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Seahawks Hint At A Defensive Need As Week 2 Uncertainty Grows
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Among the names brought in was undrafted rookie Larry Worth III, who previously spent time with the San Francisco 49ers. The other two defensive options, Devan Boykin and Austin Keys, also bring NFL experience from other stops, giving Seattle a few different looks as it weighs whether there is a fit on that side of the ball. [Read more 🡒]