Richard Sherman during the NFL Pro Bowl at the Orlando Citrus Bowl on January 29, 2017 in Orlando, Florida.

Despite a disappointing year in 2016, Richard Sherman is still one of the NFL’s top cornerbacks. But will he spend 2017 with the Seattle Seahawks, the only team he’s known during his NFL career? Probably, but Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll revealed that Seattle has at least talked about dealing Sherman.

Via ESPN:

“You’re either competing or you’re not. And so we’ve always had to be open for everything, every suggestion that comes along,” Carroll said. “There have been some teams that have called, and so we’ve talked about it. But he’s extremely important to our football team.

“I don’t see anything happening at all. And I don’t see anything happening with any other players, just the banter that’s out there right now. But it has been talked about. He’s a great player and can impact another team. I can see why people would be interested in him.”

That’s the correct response – you listen to possible deals about *every* player. There’s always the chance some team makes a ridiculous offer that leaves you with no choice but to accept.

That’s about the same message that Seattle GM John Schneider shared on Tuesday.

“I mean, we listen,” Schneider said. “We listen to like everything you would think. We’re in a lot of stuff. We try to pride ourselves on that. I think I’ve told you guys before we walk away from 98 percent of the deals that we’re involved with or talking about.

“But at least we know that we’ve knocked down their door, we’ve gone in there and checked it out. We’re not just going to assume. We always just have to constantly be thinking about the organization and how we’re going to move it forward.”

Sherman is still under contract through 2018, after which he’ll become a free agent for the first time in his career at age 30.

I think Seattle is wise to listen in case, as mentioned earlier, a team proposes a jaw-dropping offer that the team would be foolish to ignore. But they’re probably a better team in 2017 with Sherman rather than without him, so trading him for something like a fourth-round pick and cap relief wouldn’t make much sense.

Carroll also talked about the prospect of a Marshawn Lynch comeback, and didn’t sound all that optimistic.

“He came through the office and had a good visit,” Carroll said Wednesday. “I know that he is somewhat entertaining the thought of it. I can’t tell you how strong it is. You’ve got to talk to him. And that chance isn’t happening.”

[…]

“I don’t know,” Carroll said. “It depends on how he’s approached this offseason. He looked OK. The mentality that it takes to play this game the way he plays this game, he has to really be invested and ready because he goes deep when he plays. Whether or not that’s still in him, the burn is still there, I couldn’t tell that from talking to him. I know that he was playing with the idea.”

Lynch is still under contract with the Seahawks, and the team would need to release (or trade) him if he applied for reinstatement.

[ESPN]

About Joe Lucia

I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.