When reports broke last month that the Seattle Seahawks would entertain the idea of trading Richard Sherman, it threw a bunch of people for a loop. Why would Seattle trade its All Pro defender when he’s seemingly in the prime of his career?
While some took the report with a grain of salt, Seahawks general manger John Schneider pretty much confirmed Wednesday that Sherman was indeed on the trade block (more on that here).
To the surprise of few, the New England Patriots had emerged as a potential landing spot for Sherman once rumors broke that he was on the trade block.
Now comes this report from MMQB’s Albert Breer suggesting that the Oakland Raiders are right there with New England as the top suitors for the cornerback.
“The Patriots and Raiders have been the two most mentioned as good fits, as both have needs at cornerback,” Breer reported Thursday morning. “But others could still emerge, especially in the days leading up to and after the draft. Remember, the draft is deep at cornerback, which complicates the market a bit for a potential Sherman trade.”
Really, this shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Oakland is in need of help at cornerback after finishing in the bottom 10 against the pass last season. It will certainly be looking to upgrade this position in the draft. As a true Super Bowl contender, the idea of adding a proven cover guy has to be appealing to general manager Reggie McKenzie and Co.
Secondly, reports also surfaced on Wednesday that Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch was visiting the Raiders’ facility in Napa and has told the team he was interested in un-retiring. While Seattle still holds the rights to Lynch, the team will likely be forced to release him should he come out of retirement.
It will be interesting to see if anything happens on the Sherman front between now and the 2017 NFL Draft later this month. But the possibility of him being traded becomes more real by the day.
In fact, there’s suggestions out there that he has initiated the trade talks as a way to move on from the Seahawks. If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be a major surprise to see him moved here soon. Whether that’s to the Raiders or Patriots remains to be seen.