NFL free agency has begun, and it’s likely that some major moves will have been made in between the time that I write this and when it’s released in print. And for the most part, I’m focused on what the New England Patriots will be doing. The Pats have already lost Malcolm Butler, Danny Amendola, and Dion Lewis to free agency. But the biggest loss came from a player they never even had in the first place: Richard Sherman.
Sherman signed a three-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers last weekend. It could be worth up to $39 million, which would end up being an average annual salary of $13 million. But as you know with most NFL contracts — even for stars — it’s not all guaranteed money. In fact, in Sherman’s case, his contract with San Francisco is incentive-based. He negotiated it himself. Sherman is his own agent. Seeing his comments after the deal was signed, he makes it sound like he’s gambling on himself. He knows he’s coming off an achilles injury that ended his season last year in Seattle. And he doesn’t believe — or knows — he won’t get the multi-year, guaranteed contract he probably deserves, even with the injury.
Sherman will be 30 years old when the 2018 NFL season begins. He’s without a doubt one of the best cornerbacks in football. And he was released by the Seahawks. Before Sherman was released, there were rumors that he would be traded. But he wasn’t the only big-name cornerback that was available as of last weekend.
Also, being rumored was Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib. Talib was also said to be on his way out the door, even though he had two years left on his current contracts. Sherman had one year left on his deal with Seattle. But that didn’t matter. Both players were in the headlines, and reportedly on the move. The question wasn’t, “Who would want them?” It was more like, “How much will it cost?” San Francisco had originally agreed to a trade with Denver for Talib, but Talib made it clear that he only wanted to go to one of two places: New England or Los Angeles.
Long story short, he ended up getting traded to the Rams. It wasn’t something I was upset about. A reunion with the Patriots wouldn’t have been a bad move for either side, but if you’re telling me you could have either Talib at 32 years old, or Sherman at 30, it’s a no-brainer. I’ll take Sherman any day of the week there.
And it was being reported that Sherman wanted to play for the Patriots. So, I had made up my mind when both cornerbacks were initially made available. Forget about Talib and go get Sherman. Sherman was released on Friday morning and signed with San Francisco on Saturday night. According to reports, he never had a single conversation with the Patriots.
On Saturday afternoon, Sherman tweeted out something interesting: “Thank you to everyone for the kind words. This is just another chapter in the journey. This will be an ongoing process and I am excited to take on this challenge. To the fans urging me to join your team, I am humbled, but I can only look at the teams that have reached out.” If this isn’t Sherman letting the world know that Bill Belichick hadn’t reached out to him, then I don’t know what is.
When we found out that, in fact, the Patriots never contacted Sherman before he signed with the 49ers, the easy thing to do is blame the Patriots. We all know about Belichick’s ego. And we understand what the Patriot Way is. So, while Sherman is sitting there waiting for a call from the Patriots on Friday night or Saturday morning, Belichick is in his office waiting for Sherman’s agent to call him.
Which brings me to the biggest problem here. Sherman doesn’t have an agent. He worked out his own contract with the 49ers. And in the process, he let his ego get in the way of actually being a good agent. The only explanation for the Patriots and Sherman not even having a discussion is that both were playing the “how bad do you want me” game. Belichick can get away with it. Sherman can’t, because the reality of it is, if he had an agent, whether Sherman wanted to play in New England or not, his agent would’ve at least put in a phone call to the Patriots, especially knowing that they weren’t bringing Butler back. Instead, both sides let their ego get in the way of what would’ve been a perfect match. And while I understand it’s easy to blame Belichick for not picking up the phone, Sherman obviously took it personal that the Patriots never came calling.
So, yeah, Belichick’s ego played a role. But Sherman’s ego is the thing that never gave him a chance to do what he actually wanted. And that was to play for the Patriots.
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