Marshawn Lynch wants to play with the Oakland Raiders. But what if that doesn’t work out? ESPN’s Ed Werder has provided a possible Plan B that involves Richard Sherman.
Sherman has also been a part of trade talks during the off-season. According to Werder, it’s possible that Lynch may join whatever team Sherman goes to, assuming Sherman is traded.
Source: Marshawn Lynch has begun NFL reinstatement process, hoping to play for #Raiders or could team with Richard Sherman if CB traded.
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) April 13, 2017
He also clarified that it would not necessarily be a package deal.
To clarify, I didn't say they would be packaged in trade. I said Lynch might join same team. Separate deal https://t.co/uY59b3xgcU
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) April 13, 2017
One point has to be made.
Much like the NFL Draft, rumors regarding player movement are commonplace during the offseason. Not everything you read is valid.
Trade talks around Sherman have been confirmed, but as far as where (if anywhere) he might go, that’s anything but confirmed.
With that said, Sherman and Lynch pairing up with each other makes sense from a football perspective.
It starts with Lynch, who spent the 2016 season retired. He misses football, but in reality, he doesn’t need it. He’s not just coming back to any situation. It’s why the Raiders make sense. Lynch is intertwined with his hometown of Oakland.
That may not work. But if Lynch is going to come back, it stands to reason that he’d want some familiarity and comfort with his new situation. Pairing up with a longtime teammate would certainly offer that.
On top of that, we have to ask what kind of team these guys will be looking for.
Lynch will turn 31 in April, while Sherman turned 29 at the end of March. Neither play positions that tend to offer long careers, or at least primes. In both cases, going to a team that’s rebuilding or even in the “good but not great” category makes little sense.
Logically, Sherman and Lynch both have to ask themselves a simple question: If I join this team, can it realistically win Super Bowl LII?
Parity reigns in the NFL. But in reality, there’s not many teams that can honestly answer “yes” to that question. So, Lynch and Sherman should be looking at the same teams.
So, even if NFL rumors should be taken with a grain of salt, the idea of these two pairing up with each other is plausible. It makes too much sense to be anything else.