San Francisco 49ers veteran cornerback Richard Sherman may be playing his final season with the team as it appears unlikely that the team will be able to afford signing Sherman to a new deal.
The NFL’s salary cap is expected to drop, which will have a large impact on the free agency market this offseason, and Sherman is pessimistic that he can return to the team for 2021.
“If there’s some miracle that happens, then sure there’s an opening,” Sherman said, according to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. “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 represents himself in contract negotiations, and seems to have a finite understanding of how the market will play out.
Sherman signed a three-year, $27.15 million contract with incentives making it worth more than $30 million in 2018, following a long tenure with the Seattle Seahawks.
“Sherm’s a guy that I know I personally, and I know [general manager] John [Lynch] feels the same [that] we want on our team at all times,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said last week. “Sherm’s a guy that when he does get older and he does descend, he’s such a good football player, he finds a way. I understand his contract issue this year. I understand there’s a number of guys on our team with that this year, but whoever can help us win football games, our guys are trying to figure out how to bring [them] back, especially guys who do it the right way.
“Sherm is as good as anyone in those categories. Now, there’s lots of stuff that go into it at the end of the year and how we’re going to balance all this out and wait to figure out what the salary cap is and stuff with what happens, but I know Sherm’s time here, he’s been everything we’ve hoped and more. And I really hope that these next whatever games we have left, I really hope that’s not the end of it.”
Sherman, 32, made his return during Week 12 when the Niners took on the Los Angeles Rams.
