The Richard Sherman free agency tour officially got off to a hot start on Saturday with the former Seahawks cornerback taking a visit to San Francisco less than 24 hours after he was officially released.
Although there's some belief that a deal could get done with the 49ers, there's also a chance that the two sides won't agree to anything and Sherman's free agency tour will continue. If that happens, it sounds like Jameis Winston would like Tampa to be the next stop on Sherman's march.
The Buccaneers quarterback took to Twitter on Friday night and did his best to recruit Sherman to Tampa Bay.
Lions don’t entertain the opinions of sheep. Come get your gold jacket with us @TBBuccaneers
— Jameis Winston (@Jaboowins) March 10, 2018
Let me just say that if Sherman is basing his free agency decision on who recruited the best through Twitter, then he's definitely going to sign with the Buccaneers. I mean, Winston's tweet has so many layers that we should probably unpack them all, so let's do it.
First, the tweet proves that Winston is very familiar with Richard Sherman. Sherman went viral in January 2014 for using that same quote, which comes from Game of Thrones.
A lion doesn't concern himself with the opinions of a sheep.
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) January 20, 2014
Second, Winston's tweet could be taken as subtle jab at the team that Sherman visited on Saturday: the 49ers. When Sherman sent out the tweet above, not only was it was directed at former 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree, but it came one day after the Seahawks beat the 49ers 23-17 in the NFC title game.
Finally, Winston casually mentions that Sherman will get a "gold" Hall of Fame jacket if he signs with the Bucs. That's basically saying: Please come to Tampa and finish your Hall of Fame career here. Winston said of this in a 14-word tweet where he also tagged his team, so the Bucs' social media people could see that Jameis is clearly trying to recruit Sherman.
The good news for Winston is that it sounds like the Buccaneers are actually interested in adding Sherman. Sherman told ESPN.com that he's received preliminary interest from multiple teams over the past 24 hours, including the Buccaneers, Titans, Lions, Raiders, Texans, and Packers.
One other team that could go after Sherman is the Seahawks. The former All-Pro corner said on Friday that the team would be interested in bringing him back at a lower price if he's still interested after exploring his options in free agency.
