Field Yates of ESPN reported on Saturday morning that the San Francisco 49ers paid out a $1 million playing-time incentive bonus to Richard Sherman despite the cornerback not reaching the 90 percent playing-time mark. It is possible that the team just now paid out the bonus, which is what Yates is probably referencing.
Source: the 49ers gave All-Pro CB Richard Sherman a $1M signing bonus to account for the 90% play-time incentive he narrowly missed out on last season. GM John Lynch told Sherman he would do as much, as the team does right by their defensive leader in a nice gesture.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 21, 2020
It's a nice story of the 49ers doing right by one of their veteran players. However, the report drew some criticisms in the responses to the tweet, with many pointing to Sherman's performance in Super Bowl LIV. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed all five of his pass attempts against Sherman for a passer rating of 118.0, according to Pro Football Focus.
The only problem with using that as the source of criticism for the bonus is that general manager John Lynch had already informed Sherman in December that he would be receiving it, well before the playoffs even started.
Sherman was dealing with a Grade 2 hamstring strain at the time, and the 49ers didn't want to pressure the cornerback into feeling like he had to play in the team's final games of the regular season.
"John and I had a conversation early in the year about that," Sherman told the San Francisco Chronicle in December. "And they … had already given me that incentive. So there's no incentive for me, in terms of financial, for me to be like, 'I've got to come back to get this amount of money.' It's always what's best for the team."
Incredibly, Sherman ended up missing just one game last year — a Week 15 contest against the Atlanta Falcons — while dealing with the injury that typically requires several weeks of recovery.
We're sure Sherman is fine with any criticism fans might want to dish out. The cornerback has made a career of using doubt as fuel.
Sherman's 90.3 Pro Football Focus grade this past season was the highest among NFL cornerbacks. He was ranked at No. 13 in the site's top 101 best players in football.
Richard Sherman: highest graded CBpic.twitter.com/MzXpLxzoJq
— PFF (@PFF) March 12, 2020
PFF 101 best players in football
13: Richard Sherman pic.twitter.com/jIdmR5ai15
— PFF (@PFF) February 16, 2020
The playing-time bonus wasn't the only one Sherman earned for his level of play this past season. The cornerback earned a $1 million bonus after being named to his fifth career Pro Bowl, which he did not play in because of the Super Bowl, and another $2 million by being named to the All-Pro team.
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