While there has been plenty of discussion about the Seattle Seahawks looking to trade controversial All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman, can a deal get done?
According to sbnation.com, the Seahawks are willing to listen to offers for Richard Sherman. That is what we know after the team admitted as much. Nevertheless, the likelihood of a deal happening is tougher to decipher. There have been plenty of teams linked to a potential Sherman trade, but nothing has materialized and may not materialize until the days leading up to the NFL Draft and possibly beyond those dates.
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One team part of trade rumors is the Jacksonville Jaguars. They can afford this move. However, as ESPN.com’s Michael DiRocco wrote, it might be a longshot to make this happen.
“There’s always a chance. A reason? Not really. Jalen Ramsey is one starting outside corner and the team just signed A.J. Bouye to a five-year contract worth $67.5 million with $26 million guaranteed to start on the other side. If you bring in Richard Sherman, you’d have to move one of those three inside to play nickel, which means you put Aaron Colvin on the bench,” DiRocco explains.
“Sherman is 29 years old and he’s due to make $11.43 million and $11 million in the next two seasons but the Jaguars do have the cap room to afford it. However, it will take a first-round pick and likely another pick (Tampa Bay gave up a first and a fourth for Darrelle Revis in 2013) to get Sherman. That’s a steep price for a franchise that is still ways away from sniffing a .500 season and Sherman — as good as he is — wouldn’t be the difference between the Jaguars going 6-10 and 10-6 in 2017.”
The Jaguars are a team of “interest” due to its salary cap space. There are also other contenders under consideration.
The New England Patriots have been at the front of this story since it first broke. The future of Malcolm Butler in Beantown makes this an interesting proposition. Per Harry Lyles, Jr. of SB Nation, who wrote of the Patriots’ interest, Sherman is enamored of a potential move east.
Sherman admires Bill Belichick and the Patriots for how New England is organized. Therefore, it is not impossible that this would happen.
Sherman’s brother, Branton, told NFL.com that the trade rumors are igniting a new fire in Richard. “This is a new chip Richard is going to use. He’s going to be like, ‘You think you can trade me? I’m going to show you guys. That you would even talk about trading me…’ This is a new obstacle, mentally.” He did add that it did not mean that Sherman necessarily wanted to seek a trade.
Sherman is one of those success stories from the college ranks. A fifth-round pick out of Stanford in 2011. He has been a top performer at his position. In addition, he is one of the most outspoken players in the game. Ever since getting, his feet wet as a rookie. In May 2014, Sherman became one of the NFL’s highest-paid defensive players. He did so after signing a $57.4 million contract extension, with $30 million guaranteed, with the Seahawks.
Now, it looks like a sure thing both the player and team will part ways. If not this season, then afterward.
Lyles, Jr. points out the Patriots would have little need to trade for Sherman. Especially if they still have Butler and the recently signed Stephon Gilmore on the roster. If the Saints give up on pursuing Butler, it appears he will be staying in New England.
For the Seahawks, trading away Sherman — who is still one of the best corners in the league— without a replacement does not make sense. The other left CB on the roster, behind Sherman, is Nieko Thorpe. That is unless they decided to move Jeremy Lane to the other side of the field.
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Another team that could make sense in terms of a trade could be New Orleans. Consequently, they have two first-round draft picks.
Canal Street Chronicles writer Chris Dunnells thinks the New Orleans Saints and Sherman are a perfect match.
“The Malcolm Butler saga is still far from over. Still, the Saints have a pressing need at Cornerback right now, and no certain player to fill that void on the roster in 2017. If the Saints and Patriots cannot work out a trade to bring the talented Cornerback to New Orleans before the regular season, that doesn’t mean they won’t trade for a different big-name defensive star,” he explained.
Richard Sherman is under contract for $22 million dollars over the next two seasons. Nonetheless, the Saints still have plenty of cap flexibility this year after the release of Safety Jairus Byrd.
There are other teams worth mentioning like Tennessee, Atlanta, and Oakland based on odds given by BookMaker.eu, a site based in Costa Rica.