If Not Richard Sherman, Then Who? Analyzing Seahawks' Remaining Free Agent Options at Cornerback

Despite entering the offseason with several starters hitting free agency, the Seahawks haven't experienced much loss over the past three weeks. That statement, of course, implies there has been at least some loss, which there has—most of it coming at the expense of Seattle's cornerback group.

The Seahawks have lost both of their Week 1 starters at the position, with Shaquill Griffin heading to the Jaguars and Quinton Dunbar most recently landing a deal with the Lions. When Griffin agreed to return home to Florida, Seattle didn't waste any time finding a potential replacement, coming to terms on a one-year contract with former 49ers corner Ahkello Witherspoon.

Even with the Witherspoon addition, however, the Seahawks have still been involved in the cornerback market. They remained in contact with Dunbar prior to his signing, per the player himself, and have been tabbed as a potential suitor for Richard Sherman. Now that Dunbar is off the board, the hype on a possible reunion between Sherman and Seattle has skyrocketed within the fan base.

But there are reasons Sherman may not be a great fit in a return. For one, he's entering his age 33 season and is coming off two injury-plagued campaigns in the last four years. Secondly, the way he exited Seattle back at the end of the 2017 season and everything that led up to his release may be too much - or at least too early - for both sides to overcome and move on from. And lastly, Sherman has still played at a fairly high level since his arrival in San Francisco and may command a dollar figure too rich for the cap-strapped Seahawks' taste.

Sherman is also going to wait until after the draft to choose his next landing spot. Teams will have more clarity in regards to their respective rosters, giving Sherman the opportunity to leverage his way into a nice deal for himself if a few organizations fail to address their cornerback needs by the end of the month. The Seahawks could very well find themselves in this position, boasting just three picks in the draft and some other items, such as a center and a slot receiver, at the top of their to-do list.

If they go elsewhere with their lone top-100 pick, will a day three corner be enough to appease their appetite for more competition for the starting left cornerback job? If not, a thinned-down free agency pool will be their only opportunity left and they'll have to act fast.

It's possible they've already addressed this need as recently as today with the announcement of the return of Damarious Randall—a natural safety who they've listed at cornerback. Randall started his NFL career with a transition to corner as a member of the Packers and had some success there, but he's "undersized" by the Seahawks' standards for outside corners and will likely compete for playing time at the slot instead. Of course, with the shorter D.J. Reed expected to start at right corner following an impressive audition in the latter half of 2020, they've seemingly made changes to the way they evaluate the position. That said; it feels unlikely they start two corners with noteworthy height and length disadvantages when that's never been their M.O.

So it stands to reason the Randall signing and subsequent positional change does not impact their desire to upgrade their cornerback ranks. As of now, they have Witherspoon, Reed, Randall, Tre Flowers, Ugo Amadi, Jordan Miller, and Gavin Heslop on the roster. It's a very young group that doesn't present a ton of dependability from a health or consistent production standpoint.

Assuming the draft doesn't yield a significant addition to the unit, and the Sherman idea doesn't work out, where could they turn? Options are very limited and there isn't a clear fit, but here are three free agents to mull over.

Gareon Conley

A former first-round pick of the Raiders in 2017, Gareon Conley has disappointed four years into his professional career. While his play hasn't necessarily been abysmal all the time, he's been average at his best and downright bad at his worst. Injuries have played a key role, with Conley most recently missing the entire 2020 campaign following an ankle surgery that he had issues rehabbing from.

Admittedly, he hasn't been put in the best situations to succeed, initially landing with the Jack Del Rio-led Raiders then getting shipped off to a dysfunctional Texans organization in 2019. Perhaps the Seahawks could fix some of the issues that have plagued him thus far in his career. If they can't, it's likely no one can, because Conley's physical profile checks off all the boxes of a prototypical Seattle corner.

Casey Hayward

Though he falls in a similar size category as Randall and Reed, Casey Hayward is the most accomplished corner on the market behind Sherman. Despite his 5-foot-11 build, Hayward has made his money as an outside corner with the Packers and Chargers. However, for the first time in his career, he earned a sub-60.0 overall grade from Pro Football Focus in 2020 at a mark of 59.5—a far cry from his previous lowest grade of 72.4 in 2013. Thus, he was cut by the Chargers, who saved nearly $10 million in cap space with the move.

Set to play at the age of 32 in 2021, the 10-year veteran allowed an opponent passer rating of 92.6 in 788 snaps last season. He ended the year on injured reserve with a hamstring injury suffered in Week 16.

While Hayward is going to be a popular name fans will surely recognize and clamor for, especially if the Seahawks' need at cornerback stretches beyond the draft, it's hard to justify a fit here. Hayward has an excellent track record but doesn't give them the size they desire, nor does he fit their traditional play style. I wouldn't necessarily rule it out entirely, but I'd put Hayward far down my list of corners I expect to land in Seattle between now and September.

Rasul Douglas

One other name the Seahawks could give consideration to is Rasul Douglas, who - like Conley - boasts the size requirements they'll likely champion in their continued search. Standing at 6-foot-2 with 323/8-inch arms, Douglas is a physical corner who's flashed decent coverage skills at times.

He's a capable and willing tackler both in open space and at the line of scrimmage, wrapping up a career-high 62 tackles with the Panthers last season. He's had some consistency issues in coverage, most recently allowing an opponent passer rating of 106.8 in 2020, but there were things to like in his first full year starting. If all the Seahawks truly desire is more competition to push Witherspoon and Flowers, Douglas fits the bill well and gives them some upside following the best campaign of his career.

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