Free agent cornerback Richard Sherman reportedly signed with the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday night, joining his former NFC West rival less than 24 hours after being released by the Seattle Seahawks.
While San Francisco is far from a Super Bowl contender at this point, the signing means Sherman can return to the Bay Area, where he played college football at Stanford before Seattle selected him in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL draft. Sherman also established himself as a heated rival of the 49ers during his years in Seattle, which included a memorable win over San Francisco in the NFC championship game in 2014, when Sherman made a game-saving deflection that led to an interception late in the fourth quarter. That play, of course, led to another indelible Seahawks-49ers moment, right after the game.
Seattle’s vaunted “Legion of Boom” defense, of which Sherman was a member, led the Seahawks to a Super Bowl victory that same year, and another appearance the year after. That unit began to disband earlier this week after defensive lineman Michael Bennett was traded to Philadelphia.
Sherman’s release was a cost-cutting measure by the Seahawks, and ended a run that included four pro bowls and 99 consecutive starts before he tore his Achilles’ tendon in a game in November. On Saturday, Sherman indicated that his free agency could be a drawn out process, sending out this tweet:
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.
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) March 10, 2018
Yet Sherman reportedly didn’t need to take any other visits after he met with the 49ers, where he joins forces with second-year general manager John Lynch, who also played his college ball at Stanford. Sherman also expects to be back running soon as part of his rehabilitation, he told Anderson.
“I’m thankful to John [Lynch, 49ers GM] and Kyle [Shanahan, 49ers coach] for believing in me,” he said. “Some smaller details still getting ironed out, but #ShermInTheBay.”
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