NFC Notes: Richard Sherman, Cardinals, Falcons, Vikings

Richard Sherman

• According to Peter King of TheMMQB.com, the Raiders were also a team in the mix for Richard Sherman before he agreed to a three-year contract with the 49ers along with the Lions and Seahawks.
• Seahawks GM John Schneider reportedly told Sherman the “incentives [are] a little rich for me” upon being contacted to match the 49ers’ offer.
• Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie said he wasn’t going to have the cap money to compete for him and the Lions agreed with the Seahawks that the incentive package was too rich for them.
• Regarding the criticism of his incentive-based contract with the 49ers, Sherman said: “I don’t think any agent in the business could have done a better job of negotiating this contract. As long as I’m content with what I’m making, nothing else matters to me. Once I make a Pro Bowl, $8MM the next year is guaranteed for me. It gives me the ability to control my destiny. The 49ers have skin in the game. I have skin in the game. In my former contract, no matter what I did this year, nothing would be guaranteed to me next year. I couldn’t feel secure in my contract. Now, if I play the way I know I’m capable of playing, I know I’m going to get paid.”
• Sherman said during his introductory press conference on Monday that having a quarterback like Jimmy Garoppolo in place was a “huge part” of signing with the 49ers: “That had a huge part in it. The way he played down the stretch was inspiring and incredible. Quarterbacks can get hot over a limited amount of time and the next year fall off the face of the earth and you never hear from them again. But what I saw from him was consistency. I saw poise. I saw leadership. I saw respect from his teammates, command of the offense. And he’d only been there a few weeks.” (Matt Barrows)

Cardinals

• Tiffany Blackman spoke to a Cardinals’ team source who said that Kirk Cousins is a great fit for them, but they didn’t know how much they were in play because of the interest from the Vikings and Broncos.
• Blackman’s source explained that Cousins is a great fit for Arizona because: “He’s an extreme competitor. When you look at what he’s been able to do over the years, dealing with adversity, RG3, he never wavered.“
• Ian Rapoport reports that one of the reasons why the Cardinals are in the mix for Kirk Cousins is the fact that his sister lives in the Phoenix area.
• Kent Somers reports that the Cardinals won’t tender RFA TE Ifeayni Momah, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Falcons

• Vaughn McClure of ESPN writes that the Falcons will have to be bargain shoppers this offseason due to their limited cap space.
• With this in mind, McClure suggests the Falcons might be better off looking at cheaper defensive linemen such as Bennie Logan, Tom Johnson or DaQuan Jones than going after Sheldon Richardson in free agency.

Vikings

• Andrew Krammer reports that Vikings free agent DT Tom Johnson will test the open market, but there’s mutual interest in a return to Minnesota.