The idea that the Seahawks might be willing to trade star cornerback Richard Sherman quickly has morphed from a wild offseason rumor to a pretty distinct reality in a very short amount of time.
After the reports started to swirl about Sherman’s availability, the cornerback laughed off the idea. He walked that back a bit, and then on Wednesday, Seattle general manager John Schneider confirmed it’s something that could happen.
Sherman told Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com that even though he knows the rumors are out there, there’s “no bad blood” between the two sides.
“Very little chance it happens, but both sides are listening,” Sherman told Breer in a text message. “I honestly don’t have much more to say about it than what I’ve already said. We have a great relationship. … There is a lot of love and respect. There is no bad blood.”
The real key phrase there is that there’s “very little chance” a deal happens. That seems to be the consensus across the board.
Sherman also said he doesn’t believe this is the Seahawks “sending him a message.”
“Not at all. I’m not in the least bit concerned about that,” Sherman said.
One interesting team to watch is the Patriots, who are almost always involved in these sort of offseason rumors. New England, like Seattle, isn’t afraid to explore just about anything when it comes to making roster moves. No one is bigger than the whole. (Except for Tom Brady and Russell Wilson. And apparently Jimmy Garoppolo.)
A report earlier this week indicated the Patriots were willing to listen to Seattle, or at least have discussions about Sherman. New England has a cornerback problem of its own, dealing with Malcolm Butler wanting a new deal and potentially a trade to the Saints. (There is recent history with these two teams trading, but New Orleans not being willing to hand over the No. 11 overall pick is the holdup there.)
The Pats already went huge at cornerback by signing Stephon Gilmore in free agency, but reportedly asked about Sherman before making a splash on the open market.
It feels like the Sherman talk is probably not going to lead to a deal, but there is clearly plenty of fire very close to the smoke.
