Richard Sherman Seattle Seahawks Trade Rumors: Would Seahawks Trade Sherman?
Richard Sherman-Seattle Seahawks trade rumors are causing quite the stir on social media. Would the Seahawks really trade Sherman at this point in his career? It’s important to pinpoint where these NFL rumors are coming from, and in this case, it appears to trace back to former New England Patriots coach and sportswriter Michael Lombardi. A report on his Twitter account seems to confirm a statement that he made, which was also reported by sportswriter Mike Loyko in another post on Twitter.
“I hear Seattle really would be open to moving Richard Sherman if the offer was serious.”
So what does this all mean? It might mean absolutely nothing. Both sportswriters did their jobs of getting NFL fans to talk about the Seattle Seahawks rumors, with no tangible evidence to back up any of it. There has been no comment from the front office in Seattle, Seahawks’ general manager John Schneider has not hinted at a Richard Sherman trade, and no teams have been linked to negotiations yet either. This doesn’t mean that something isn’t taking place behind closed doors, but it suggests that the team isn’t really looking to deal its best cornerback at this time.
Richard Sherman’s contract is an expensive one, but it comes to an end during the 2018 NFL season. Sherman will make a base salary of $11.431 million in 2017, but carries a cap hit of $13.631 million due to his signing bonus. For the 2018 NFL season, Sherman’s contract will pay him an additional $11 million, with a salary cap hit of $13.2 million for the Seahawks. It does rank among the more expensive deals for a cornerback in the league, but the Seahawks can certainly afford to pay it.
During the 2016 NFL season, Richard Sherman’s stats included 38 total tackles, 13 pass deflections, one fumble recovery, and four interceptions. He started all 16 games for the fifth consecutive season, continuing his streak of playing in all 96 games since getting drafted out of Stanford by the Seahawks. In that time, he has amassed 30 total interceptions, including two seasons where he had eight interceptions each. Though he has played through minor injuries, it’s very commendable that Sherman has never missed a game in his NFL career.
For these Seattle Seahawks trade rumors to mean anything, there would have to be a solution for replacing Sherman in the secondary. The upcoming draft class does have a lot of good-to-great cornerbacks, and as previously reported by the Inquisitr, the Seahawks have been linked to other cornerbacks during free agency. There are no proven talents available, though, meaning the Seahawks would be taking a huge risk by dealing a cornerstone of its defense in order to improve at another position.
What might have made the Richard Sherman-Seattle Seahawks trade rumors more believable is if the team was looking to rebuild its roster. If the Seahawks had been struggling to make the postseason and weren’t on a track to win the NFC West again, then it might be time to start thinking about dealing players like Sherman. That’s not the case, though, as the team is fresh off winning another division title. While there are still problems with the offensive line and the running game, this is still a roster that will contend during the 2017 NFL season.
The Seahawks already made a bold move this offseason by signing running back Eddie Lacy away from the Green Bay Packers. Lacy was also a candidate to sign with the Detroit Lions, but as previously reported by the Inquisitr, he agreed to a deal in Seattle shortly after a meeting with the team. That’s not a move that a team looking to break up its defense would make, throwing some additional cold water on these NFL trade rumors. While it may be interesting to read about these Richard Sherman rumors, Seahawks fans shouldn’t put much stock in them.
[Featured Image by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images]
