Have we Seen the Last of Richard Sherman in the NFL?
The future of Richard Sherman in the NFL hangs in the balance.
At 6:08 Wednesday morning he was booked for "Burglary Domestic Violence," at the Seattle Correctional Facility, according to King County public record.
As the day progresses, more and more information is slowly being revealed about the events that transpired with Sherman. You can follow all of that with updated information with us at All49ersSI here as my editor Grant Cohn has that end covered.
Sherman is currently a free agent and was potentially going to be a training camp or preseason signing for the 49ers. The door was never fully closed on a return for him as he awaited the right opportunity. Well, now that opportunity might be gone with the 49ers and possibly his NFL career.
Have we seen the last of Sherman?
I think we have with the 49ers -- not the NFL.
Ever since Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch took over, they have been a no-nonsense regime. Rather than re-sign Colin Kaepernick, they elected to let him go because he wasn't a "fit" in the offense, but I doubt that was the only reason why as they probably feared the "distraction" he'd carry. When Reuben Foster couldn't get out of the news, they cut him without hesitation. And I am sure that is a situation they learned from as no other player, at least publicly, has been caught up.
Sherman, despite being a valiant player and leader in the locker room, might not be worth it anymore for the 49ers. He was already looking like a washed up player, hence why the 49ers didn't even consider re-signing him, so dealing with the constant questions of his arrest and the events that went down is surely not something the 49ers are looking forward to. Shanahan himself gets bothered with all the constant quarterback questions or questions about the constant injuries. Tacking on Sherman's drama is not something he'd want.
As for the NFL, unless Sherman actually used physical force, which does not appear to be the case, then the only issue here is the potential of him driving under the influence. That is something the league and some desperate teams can stomach. If there is one thing the NFL has proven is that if you have value, then they will tolerate past mistakes. A cornerback needy team could still want to sign Sherman in the coming months and just take the lumps with the questioning.
But ultimately I believe Sherman returning to the 49ers is extremely unlikely.
