Richard Sherman does not see himself returning to the San Francisco 49ers in the offseason.
It is not because of any personal issues, but rather because of the financial situation. The 32-year-old star cornerback has analyzed the cap situation as the 49ers have other important players to sign long term. Such players include left tackle Trent Williams and linebacker Fred Warner.
On ESPN, Sherman spoke about the situation saying, “But there’s 40 free agents and they’ll probably have $30 million or less in cap and they have got to bring back Trent, who costs over $20 million. They have to pay Fred, who costs $18 million-plus a year. So anybody who knows the situation understands that.”
The five-time Pro Bowler has been invaluable for the 49ers’ defense. The former Super Bowl champion brings leadership qualities to the locker room and the ability to shape up the team defense. Last season, Sherman performed well for the defense as he finished with 61 combined tackles coming close to tying his 2012 career-best of 64 combined tackles with the Seattle Seahawks.
Sherman missed out on nine games this season because of a calf injury.
Coach Kyle Shanahan has expressed his view on the importance of the cornerback and said, “Sherm’s a guy that when he does get older and he does descend, he’s such a good football player, he finds a way. I understand his contract issue this year. I understand there’s a number of guys on our team with that this year, but whoever can help us win football games, our guys are trying to figure out how to bring [them] back, especially guys who do it the right way.”
“Sherm is as good as anyone in those categories,” he added. “Now, there’s lots of stuff that go into it at the end of the year and how we’re going to balance all this out and wait to figure out what the salary cap is and stuff with what happens, but I know Sherm’s time here, he’s been everything we’ve hoped and more. And I really hope that these next whatever games we have left, I really hope that’s not the end of it.”
