Seahawks Willing To Trade CB Richard Sherman?

Update:

Jordan Schultz, citing league sources, reports that the rumors of the Seahawks trading CB Richard Sherman in part stems from the staff believing he has “a lack of leadership.”

In the end, Schultz adds that a trade remains “unlikely” at this point in time.

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Former Patriots executive Michael Lombardi mentioned on The Ringer podcast “The NFL Show” that the Seahawks would be open to trading CB Richard Sherman for the right deal.

“I truly believe, based on what I hear around the National Football League, that the Seahawks would, in fact, for the right deal, trade Richard Sherman,’’ Lombardi said.

Lombardi cited the Seahawks’ cap situation as a reason why they could listen to potential offers for Sherman

“Their cap is kind of a mess and they need to fix it,” Lombardi said.

Lombardi makes the case that the Saints, who have met with Patriots restricted free agent Malcolm Butler, would be better off pursuing a trade for Sherman, who would actually fit the kind of defense they want to play.

A big consideration for New Orleans brought up by Lombardi is that signing Butler would require a long-term deal that comes with an annual salary of $13-14 million and cost the Saints a draft pick when they could draft a young cornerback to develop or consider a trade for Sherman.

This is based on what Lombardi’s hearing, so it’s hard to say just how willing Seattle would actually be to trade their top cornerback. In the past, Seattle hasn’t shied away from making notable trades, but they’re usually the ones acquiring the notable player such as the Jimmy Graham and Percy Harvin deals.

Plus, trading Sherman would only weaken the team’s cornerback depth, which is already a position of need for them.

Sherman, 28, is a former fifth-round pick of the Seahawks back in 2011. He’s currently in the fourth years of his five-year, $58.789 million contract that includes $40 million guaranteed and stands to make base salaries of $11.431 million and $11 million over the final two years of the agreement.

According to OverTheCap.com, trading Sherman would free up $9,231,000 of available cap space while creating $4,400,000 in dead money.

In 2016, Sherman appeared in all 16 games and recorded 58 tackles, four interceptions, a fumble recovery and 13 pass defenses. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 13 cornerback out of 112 qualifying players.