SEATTLE — Rumors the Seahawks might be open to trading Richard Sherman for the right price?
“I just laugh it off, man,” Seattle’s three-time All-Pro cornerback said Friday morning while appearing on ESPN’s “First Take.”
“You know, it’s funny to me,” Sherman said. “But, you know, sometimes people need to see you gone to realize what you had, sometimes. Grass ain’t always greener on the other side.
“But I don’t let things like that bother me. The chips will fall how they’re supposed to.”
How they are supposed to be is with Sherman starting at left cornerback for the Seahawks in 2017 for the seventh consecutive season. The Seahawks are entrenched in that plan with him as a franchise cornerstone. Sherman has two seasons and $22,431,000 in base pay remaining on the contract extension he signed in May 2014 with the only NFL team he’s known.
The only thing that’s changed from him finishing Seattle’s 2016 season with the playoff loss at Atlanta Jan. 14 and now was a podcast last week on “The Ringer” by ex-NFL executive Mike Lombardi that got far more attention than it warranted. The former Oakland Raiders general manager threw out there that “I truly believe, based on what I am hearing around the National Football League, that the Seahawks would, in fact, for the right deal trade Richard Sherman.”
Well, sure, such as if the Dallas Cowboys offered their entire starting offensive line to the Seahawks for him.
The “miss me when I’m gone” Sherman said on ESPN Friday sounded familiar.
“I actually told that to the local media last year, when I stopped dealing with them,” Sherman said, accurately and with a grin. “I said, ‘You’ll miss me when I’m gone. It will be a lot harder to write your stories and get your clicks that you need.’”
Sherman’s volatile 2016 season included him shouting at defensive coordinator Kris Richard after a coverage foul-up during an October win over Atlanta, shouting on the same Seahawks sideline at coaches Pete Carroll and Darrell Bevell during a December win over Los Angeles, refusing to speak to local media members by season’s end — and, Carroll revealed after the season, Sherman playing through a sprained knee ligament.
Last week on Seattle’s 710-AM, wide receiver Doug Baldwin — Sherman’s teammate in Seattle and in college at Stanford — commented on Sherman’s outbursts in 2016.
“I say that Sherm’s greatest asset can also be his greatest weakness,” Baldwin said March 16 on 710-AM’s “Brock and Salk” show. “He’s very smart. And sometimes he thinks he’s smarter than he is. And I have no issues, qualms saying that, because I’ll say that to his face. I love him to death because at times he is very considerate and very thoughtful, but other times he lets his pride get in the way.
“But that pride is the same thing that’s propelled him to be the greatest corner in our game today.”
Friday on ESPN, Sherman said “I saw what he said” and that “we don’t worry about it. I don’t worry about it, because stuff like that has little meaning to what we really do. We know how each other feels, truly.
“He says it to me, then he gets his point — he was asked a question and he answered his question. I just saw him (Thursday). It’s definitely good…”
This month at the NFL combine in Indianapolis, Carroll said he believed time would solve Sherman’s issues with the Seattle-area media.
“There’s a lot of time here in the offseason. Hopefully everything will be worked out and it’s a move forward so it’s not an issue,” Carroll said March 2. “I know you guys can handle it, and he’s a player who’s got a big world. He’s got his family to take care of. He’s got his job to take care of. And it’s just an ongoing conversation. And hopefully he will put that behind him.”
THIRD NEW LINEBACKER IN A WEEK
Carroll is meeting his offseason goal of getting deeper and more competitive at linebacker.
A day after the Seahawks and ex-49ers starter Michael Wilhoite reportedly agreed to terms, NFL Network reported 26-year-old free-agent linebacker Terence Garvin agreed to sign with Seattle.
Garvin entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2013 with Pittsburgh. He got a tryout in a spring minicamp and turned that into a spot on the Steelers’ practice squad and three seasons on their active roster. He was a standout on special teams and made his only NFL start in 2013 as an inside linebacker in Pittsburgh’s 3-4 defense. Garvin played last season for Washington, which also valued him for his hitting while covering kicks.
Wilhoite was also an inside linebacker in a 3-4 at San Francisco. The Seahawks use a 4-3, with only one middle linebacker in All-Pro Bobby Wagner.
Seattle let Brock Coyle, Wagner’s backup the last few seasons, leave for the 49ers in free agency. In the last week the Seahawks have added three inside or potential middle linebackers; they signed linebacker Arthur Brown last week. Brown entered the NFL as an outside linebacker as Baltimore’s second-round pick in 2013. He’s spent his time in the league inside and on special teams.
The signings mean Kevin Pierre-Louis likely has some impressing to do this offseason and preseason to remain with the Seahawks. Their fourth-round pick in 2014 has been a special-teams mainstay but has failed to earn the coaches’ trust to play defense regularly as an outside linebacker. He is entering the final year of his rookie contract.
Mike Morgan, the starting strong-side linebacker last season when he wasn’t out with an abdominal injury, is an unsigned free agent.
The quantity of experienced linebackers signed by the Seahawks this month suggests the team could be considering Brown, Wilhoite or now Garvin as a possible candidate to play outside. The team’s searching will continue with next month’s draft.
