Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
"You mad, bro?" Forget that
Richard Sherman personified the archetype villain to 49er fans the moment he tipped a last-ditch effort pass to
Michael Crabtree in the 2013 NFC Championship Game, then made a "choke" gesture to
Colin Kaepernick, the dejected 49ers bench, and the rest of the entire football-watching world. How about the fact that the 49ers brass just spent a reported $39 million over three years on a cornerback that is turning 30 later this month and is coming off of one Achilles tendon tear in one leg and a bone spur "clean up" in the other?
Didn't the 49ers just release
NaVorro Bowman (you know, the iconic former face of the franchise in part due to his heroics in that same game) after roughly the
same injury and at roughly the
same age? So what's the difference? Maybe Sherman passed the physical with flying colors and Bowman had question marks. We may never know that side of it. Is it worth the risk to find out?
No doubt, it's a gamble...but not financially. The 49ers have more than enough cap space to accommodate such a move and, more than likely, a large chunk of that $39 million will be tied to hard-to-reach incentives anyway. It may not be as big of a financial risk as it initially seemed, if the contract is in any way similar to what we've seen in the past from Chief Contract Negotiator, Paraag Marathe. We'll know more once the complete details of the contract are made public.
No, the risk is in how this will affect the dynamics of the locker room. Teammates revered Bowman for his work ethic and resiliency following career-threatening injuries. And yet he was still expendable. He wasn't exactly quiet...he let his hard-hitting play speak for him; but he also definitely wasn't a brash, outspoken instigator that you could imagine boastfully prancing and gesticulating toward an opponent's sideline after they just endured a heart-wrenching loss.
That sort of swagger was reserved solely for 49ers Public Enemy No. 1, Richard Sherman. And like it or not, he consistently delivered on his trash talk. Since being drafted out of Stanford in 2011, NFL research shows that Sherman leads the league in interceptions (32), passes defensed (99), lowest completion percentage allowed (47.4%) and lowest passer rating allowed (50.9). The four-time consecutive Pro Bowler has (had?) game. But so did
Darrelle Revis.
The real question to me is, how will an aging veteran coming off a major injury and two surgeries deal with it when he might not be able to back up all that infamous trash talk anymore? Will he divide a young and impressionable locker room? Will he start blaming other players, coaches, zodiac alignments...anyone but himself if he doesn't bounce back the way he (and the 49ers front office) expects? Will he implode?
As the guy who
saw this as a possible dark horse signing, my guess is no. Yes, Sherman may
seem mercurial but I believe his schtick has been much more calculated than most think. He's an intelligent, savvy, playmaker that has been praised for his ability to take young players under his arm in Seattle and help develop them.
At worse, he's leaps and bounds better than the liability that was
Dontae Johnson last year. At best, he plays at the same level he was pre-injury and helps the 49ers forge the identity they are looking to make under Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh. No one knows this 3 Deep Zone defense better than Sherman; he helped create it when Saleh was still an assistant in Seattle. And, in this writer's opinion, he's a much better (and cheaper) signing than
Trumaine Johnson would have been.
That doesn't mean the 49ers are done yet. The smart move is to still draft another corner to develop...they just won't
have to do it in the early rounds now if they don't see an ideal fit. And for my next prediction, I also see the 49ers going after one of Saleh's former players in Jacksonville in free agency,
Aaron Colvin. He's young, plays the same defense, and won't come at a huge price. Book it.
Poll
- Will signing Richard Sherman help or hurt the 49ers?
Help
Undecided
Hurt
- 755 votes
The Athletic's Tim Kawakami knows the San Francisco 49ers are starving for a championship. The Bay Area squad has fallen just short in three of the last four seasons. They can almost taste it.
The Niners came close in 2019, reaching the Super Bowl but collapsing late in the game. The team has reached the NFC title game in the last two seasons, both times believing they were the better team but coming up empty.
This past season, San Francisco went through four quarterbacks—Trey Lance, Jimmy Garoppolo, Brock Purdy, and finally, Josh Johnson. All suffered injuries. Lance went down in Week 2. Then, Garoppolo in Week 13. Lastly, Purdy and Johnson in the NFC Championship Game.
Garoppolo and Johnson will become free agents on Wednesday. Purdy just
Twenty San Francisco 49ers players are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents on Wednesday. Three of them are offensive linemen. The biggest name among those linemen is tackle Mike McGlinchey, who will likely garner significant interest around the NFL.
Daniel Brunskill and Jake Brendel are also slated to become free agents. The latter is reportedly garnering interest as well. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2, multiple teams are interested in pursuing Brendel in free agency, including the Houston Texans and a pair of AFC teams. Former 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans is the new head coach there. Former 49ers passing game coordinator Bobby Slowik is the
The San Francisco 49ers are re-signing safety Tashaun Gipson to a one-year, $2.9 million deal with $2.17 million guaranteed. The contract will include statistic and Pro Bowl incentives. Gipson was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday.
Source: The #49ers are re-signing veteran safety Tashaun Gipson to a 1-year deal. Gipson started all 17 games last season for SF and they valued him a ton. Now back for another year.— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate)
The following list tracks San Francisco 49ers signings, interests, and losses during free agency, which officially kicks off at the start of the new league year on Wednesday, March 15, at 1 p.m. PT (4 p.m. ET). NFL teams can begin negotiations with player agents on Monday, March 13, at 9 a.m. PT (noon ET).
This list will be updated frequently throughout the early days of free agency, so please bookmark it and check back often for the latest information.
Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA): A player with an expiring contract who has four-or-more accrued seasons and is free to negotiate with any team at the start of the new league year.
Restricted Free Agent (RFA): A player with an expiring contract who has three accrued