Cornerback Richard Sherman, a four-time Pro Bowl selection and three-time first-team All-Pro, is being released by the Seattle Seahawks. With the Los Angeles Rams making pre-free agency trades to add two new starting cornerbacks in Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters, it was inevitable that San Francisco 49ers fans begin to question if Sherman could be in play for the Bay Area team.
What is Sherman looking for in his next NFL destination?
"Looking for a great fit," the cornerback told Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. "A team that has a great quarterback. Looking for somewhere I will be comfortable."
"No Huddle Podcast" co-host Zain Naqvi has been openly vocal concerning a Sherman-to-49ers scenario and has consistently argued in favor of the potential move. During this week's podcast, he asked guest Matt Barrows his thoughts on the possibility. Was he crazy for even considering it? Did Barrows need to walk Naqvi "off the edge" when it comes to the 49ers making a run at Sherman?
"No, I'm going to walk you back to the edge," Barrows told Naqvi. "If you're drawing up the prototype cornerback for this system, it's Richard Sherman. That's been made clear over his career.
"Now, the Achilles injury complicates things. Although I did read today (Thursday), somebody in Seattle wrote that Sherman sort of scoffed at the notion that both of his Achilles heels needed repair in the offseason. He said that one of them was an Achilles. The other one was a bone spur issue on his heel. So it was in that vicinity but not having to do with the tendon. So that might ameliorate people's concerns a little bit."
In November, the 29-year-old cornerback left a Thursday night game against the Arizona Cardinals with a ruptured Achilles tendon, which he sustained while getting tangled up with wide receiver John Brown late in the third quarter.
The injury isn't the only concern when it comes to potentially adding Sherman.
"He's got a certain personality too," Barrows continued. "That seems to be paramount for Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch, is bringing in guys who fit what they've got going on. They've got a good thing going. They don't want to upset the atmosphere that they cultivated last year and the question would be: Would a Richard Sherman do that?
"I think that's a big risk. That's something that you would have to talk long and hard about, whether somebody that's about to turn 30 -- I think he turns 30 later this month -- who's used to being the guy, who's used to having a huge voice, whether he's going to be the right guy for your locker room, especially if he starts to sort of diminish over the last few years of his career. What does he do then? Is that okay with him? Does he try to do something (or) say something that keeps him in the spotlight like he's used to? How would he basically handle that situation?
"That's something that you're starting to get into the psychology of the guy, and I'm sure [defensive coordinator Robert] Saleh has a good grasp of that as anybody in the 49ers organization."
Sherman, who is a seven-year veteran, has registered 367 combined tackles, 32 interceptions, 99 passes defensed, a sack, and five forced fumbles over his NFL career.