Set to become an unrestricted free agent in March, cornerback Richard Sherman’s next stop in the San Francisco 49ers NFL will likely be the last.
Sherman, who will turn 33 in March and has long said he wants to play until he is 35, told Stephen A. Smith on his ESPN + Stephen A’s World show on Monday that he plans to follow that plan and define the rest of his career in the NFL it may seem.
“I just want to play two more [seasons]”Said Sherman.” I want to join a competitive team. I think I still have a lot to give the game. I think I still have a lot I want to achieve and I think I can go out there and help a defense to unite as it should and reach its potential, reach the level that the defenses in which I played reached. “
When the new year of the NFL league opens on March 17, it will be Sherman’s second foray into the unrestricted free agency, but the first time after his contract expires. In 2018, Sherman quickly signed with the 49ers after the Seattle Seahawks released him after seven seasons there.
At the time, Sherman was emerging from a breach of law suffered by Achilles in November 2017. Acting as his own agent, Sherman negotiated a three-year, $ 27.15 million deal with the Niners that included strong incentives if he returned to his previous form of the All-Pro.
Sherman did just that in 2019, earning his fifth Pro Bowl nomination and a spot on the second team’s All-Pro team. But the 2020 season was essentially lost to Sherman, who had a calf injury throughout the season and appeared in just five games.
In December, Sherman said it would be a “miracle” for him to return to the 49ers, due to his many free agents and the lack of salary limits to maintain them. Among the players that Sherman hopes to win lucrative contracts with the 49ers before joining the mix are left tackle Trent Williams, cornerback Jason Verrett and linebacker Fred Warner, who is not yet a free agent, but is entering the final year of his newbie contract.
That position hasn’t changed, either, as Sherman still hopes to leave. Speaking to Smith on Monday, Sherman mentioned the Las Vegas Raiders as a potential destination. The New Raiders defensive coordinator, Gus Bradley, was Sherman’s defensive coordinator in Seattle in 2011 and 2012, and is expected to install a defensive scheme similar to what Sherman played with the Seahawks and 49ers.
Promoting that connection, Raider coach Jon Gruden raised some eyebrows last week when he appeared on the podcast Sherman co-host with Cris Collinsworth and told Sherman that the Raiders “are looking for an alpha presence in our secondary, someone who could play in this Hawk 3- press the technique with the reading step. If you are available and interested, maybe you and I can meet at some point off the air. “
In addition to the Raiders, there is also an obvious link to the New York Jets, who recently hired former Niners defensive coordinator Robert Saleh as head coach.
No matter where he goes, Sherman seems determined to end his career on his terms and schedule.
“After two years, I think I’m going to end it anyway, because I’m sure I’m still going to get calls, I’m sure people still want to see if I’m interested,” said Sherman. “I think two more years and I will be happy where I am.”
Also on Monday, the 49ers announced that it had resumed quarterback Josh Rosen for a one-year contract extension. Rosen, who was the tenth choice in the 2018 NFL draft, signed with the Niners on December 23 after injuries to quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Nick Mullens and training team quarterback Josh Johnson fell on the reserve list / COVID-19 .
Rosen was scheduled to become an exclusive rights-free agent, but now he will have the chance to compete for a vacant reserve next season. He joins Garoppolo and Johnson as the only defenders that the Niners have a contract for 2021.