Sherman to Pats talk is real deal
The Patriots might be lining up a pair of redwoods at cornerback next season.
The Seattle Seahawks are openly fielding trade requests for superstar cornerback Richard Sherman, and there’s a chance he lands with the Patriots. A source told the Herald yesterday nothing is imminent with a Sherman trade to any team, but there’s a very real possibility it happens during the run-up to the NFL draft on April 27.
The Patriots, meanwhile, have expressed interest in acquiring Sherman, but other teams have pursued him more aggressively to this point, according to the source. But if the Patriots lose cornerback Malcolm Butler, either through restricted free agency or a trade, they could very likely increase their focus on prying Sherman from the Seahawks. Butler has until April 21 to sign his restricted tender to yield a trade, so there’s time for that to unfold before Seattle potentially pulls the trigger on a Sherman trade.
And most importantly, Sherman would be amenable to a trade to the Patriots. He has long admired the Pats and Bill Belichick’s operation.
It’s unclear what the Seahawks would demand as compensation and whether the Patriots have enough collateral to execute such a trade. They don’t have any picks in the first two rounds but have a pair of third-rounders (Nos. 72 and 96), though they would add more valuable assets if they unloaded Butler or even quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
The potential scenario could almost appear like a three-way trade with the Patriots sending Butler to the Saints and then yielding those incoming picks to the Seahawks for Sherman.
While it would seem logical for the Patriots and Seahawks to swap their corners, the fact Seattle doesn’t have an imminent trade on the table suggests that possibility hasn’t been discussed between the teams. It’s also worth pointing out Belichick has a close working relationship with Saints coach Sean Payton and Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, so there’s reason to believe something could come together quickly.
Butler could still return to the Patriots for the 2017 season, which would turn a Sherman acquisition into a moot idea. Sherman, who turned 29 last week, would be an upgrade over the 27-year-old Butler, so Belichick might be motivated to work his magic in the coming weeks considering the Seahawks are willing to part with their top corner.
Such a trade would make sense for other reasons. The Patriots have shown an effort to get taller at cornerback by signing the 6-foot-1 Stephon Gilmore to a five-year, $65 million contract. Sherman is 6-3 and would replace the 5-11 Butler. In a less provocative move, they also traded for 6-1 cornerback Eric Rowe last season.
By landing Sherman, the Patriots would also have a pair of true No. 1 cornerbacks, by both ability and contract status. Sherman has two years remaining on his four-year, $56 million deal, so his $14 million in average annual value trumps Gilmore’s $13 million annually. That would reinstate the preferred salary structure on the depth chart, which has been thrown out of whack with the Gilmore signing as it relates to Butler’s negotiations. Butler’s tender is worth $3.91 million in 2017, and the two sides haven’t gotten anywhere close to an extension.
Over the past month, there’s been a lot of mystery as to why the Patriots would reel in Gilmore if that meant they were willing to lose Butler and Logan Ryan. But Seahawks general manager John Schneider told a Seattle radio station the trade discussions began at the combine prior to free agency. It’s conceivable the Patriots had Butler’s succession plan in place all along.
The dots are all connected. It’s just a matter of whether the Patriots are able to pull off one of the most high-profile and masterful cornerback transitions in recent memory.
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The Patriots re-signed running back Brandon Bolden, who was an unrestricted free agent. Terms of the contract were not announced.
Bolden is a veteran of five NFL seasons with the Patriots after joining the team as a rookie free agent out of Mississippi in May 2012.