The 2018 NFL season kicks off this week, and outside expectations for the San Francisco 49ers are high. Much of that is due to how quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and the team finished last season. Inside the building, head coach Kyle Shanahan knows last year's performance means nothing going into the new season.
"We know this year is going to be tough," Shanahan said last week. "It's going to be a challenge. We're going to have to play a heck of a lot better than we did last year to get more than six wins."
One position that was upgraded this offseason was cornerback. The 49ers added former rival Richard Sherman, who joined the "Adam Schefter Podcast" this week and shared his team expectations for the upcoming season.
"I think we're going to have a really good season," Sherman told Adam Schefter of ESPN. "God willing that we get through it healthy and all our guys make it all the way through, I think we have the chance to do something really special and show a lot of people that this team is back to where they should be."
Of course, the 49ers lost a key offensive weapon over the weekend after running back Jerick McKinnon — one of the team's free agent prizes in March — went down during practice with a torn ACL.
Schefter wanted to know what was realistic for the 49ers in 2018.
"Playoffs are very realistic," Sherman responded. "Anything can happen once you get in, but it takes a team, it takes guys being focused for 16 games to get a chance at the tournament. That's what we're focused on now, but you've got to take it a day at a time."
Sherman has served as one of the NFLPA's vice presidents since 2014. In a few years, the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) will need to be renewed. It currently runs through the 2020 season. Players and owners reached an agreement on the current CBA only after a lengthy offseason player lockout in 2011.
Could something similar occur when the current CBA expires? If it does, Sherman believes the players are better prepared for a potential standoff.
"I think that the players' side is definitely more prepared for a potential work stoppage this time around," Sherman said. "I think we have more contingency plans in place. Our players are more informed, the process is more transparent, and I think we really have keyed (in on) what we're going to be looking for in these negotiations."
Sherman believes a work stoppage potentially occurring in a few years is "incredibly realistic."
"If the owners and the players can't come to an agreement the same way we didn't come to an agreement at the end of the last CBA, there will definitely be a work stoppage," he said. "I'm sure the owners will lock the gates and, unfortunately, we'll have to figure something out.
"I think that's what we're planning for. That's a worst-case scenario, obviously, but that's what we're planning for because that's what's happened in the past."
Click here to listen to the entire conversation with Sherman, which begins at about the 38:50 mark.