Should the 49ers Bench Richard Sherman?
Do you believe in miracles?
Because that is the ONLY way that cornerback Richard Sherman will be returning to the San Francisco 49ers in 2021. At his press conference on Thursday, Sherman essentially made it clear that this was his farewell tour in the red and gold citing multiple factors.
"If there's some miracle that happens, then sure there's an opening," Sherman said. "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."
Sherman's points are absolutely valid. You could also throw in the point that he is an aging player with a concerning injury history, so the 49ers would be wise to not make another investment on him.
Now that Sherman has made it known that it is a slim chance of his return to the 49ers next season, should the 49ers bench Sherman?
Absolutely.
Why on earth would it benefit the 49ers to continue to roll out a player that is leaving them at the conclusion of the season? The 49ers should continue to start Jason Verrett and hand Emmanuel Moseley his starting role back. Both of these players were already doing an excellent job before Sherman returned, so it is not like they need Sherman to make this longshot playoff push.
Verrett and Moseley are the players of the future at cornerback for the 49ers.
Moseley will be an exclusive restricted free agent in the offseason, so he is locked in with the team. As for Verrett, I'd be hard pressed to think he goes elsewhere since the 49ers gave him endless opportunities to prop himself back into an adequate talent. Plus, he is worth a bit extra money since he grants the 49ers defense the flexibility to utilize multiple coverages.
Sherman is a good player, but his high-level playing days are over. You just can't trust him in critical matchups anymore. Just look at how he performed on Monday Night Football against the Bills. It was a night-any-day difference versus his performance against Jared Goff and the Rams. Sherman can mess with average-to-horrendous quarterbacks, but superb ones? Forget about it.
The unfortunate part about this is the 49ers do not have the gall to bench Sherman. They can't even control what he says to the media, so there is no way they are going to be able to tell him he is no longer the starter.
It's not going to happen, but it should.
Sherman is leaving, so might as well get used to it now.
