Sherman, 49ers agree to 3-year deal
Incentive-laden pact for corner coming off Achilles tear
After beating them, Richard Sherman will join them.
Sherman, the brash and loquacious cornerback who has spent much of his sevenyear career with Seattle tormenting the 49ers, agreed to terms on a three-year contract with his longtime NFC West rival Saturday, a league source said. The deal is worth up to $39.15 million with a $5 million signing bonus, the NFL Network reported.
The signing capped a whirlwind two days for Sherman, 29, who was released by the Seahawks on Friday morning, then had dinner with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan on Friday night in the Bay Area. The Stanford alum had a physical and met with 49ers officials at the team facility Saturday before reaching an agreement late in the afternoon.
In 2018, Sherman will reportedly earn $7 million in base salary and could earn another $6 million in playing
time and performance incentives, including $3 million if he’s voted to the Pro Bowl. It’s not surprising the 49ers have safeguards in the event that Sherman can’t recapture the form that’s made him a fourtime Pro Bowl selection who has the sixth-most interceptions (32) among active players.
Sherman will turn 30 on March 30, and he is recovering from a torn right Achilles tendon he sustained in November. The injury caused him to miss Seattle’s final seven games last season after he began his career by playing in 105 straight games.
Sherman also has had a procedure to clean up bone spurs in his left Achilles. On March 1, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said he expected Sherman to remain in a walking boot for a few more weeks.
Sherman’s age, medical file and salary — he was scheduled to earn an $11.4 million base salary in 2018 — prompted his release from the Seahawks.
The 49ers are betting that Sherman, a first-team All-Pro in three seasons, can capably fill a pressing defensive need. General manager John Lynch recently said it didn’t take a “savant” to see they needed to improve at cornerback.
This offseason, the 49ers had looked into three other Pro Bowl cornerbacks, Vontae Davis, Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib, but did not seriously pursue them before they landed elsewhere.
Ahkello Witherspoon, a third-round pick who played well in nine starts as a rookie, and K’Waun Williams, who received a midseason contract extension, were the only corners on San Francisco’s roster who fit in the 49ers’ 2018 plans.
If healthy, Sherman could be an ideal fit for the 49ers’ 4-3 defense, the same scheme in which he flourished in Seattle. He excels in physical man-toman coverage and is known to defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, an assistant with the Seahawks from 2011-2013.
Niners cornerbacks, collectively, have eight interceptions over the past two seasons, a meager total topped by three NFL players. In 2013, Sherman led the NFL with eight interceptions, and he has six in the past two seasons.
Four of Sherman’s interceptions have come against the 49ers, and he was a headliner of a vaunted defense that’s keyed Seattle’s nine-game winning streak over their NFC West rivals.
Sherman had a contentious relationship with former 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh, his coach at Stanford, and delighted in needling the man he once termed “the bully” after Seahawks’ wins.
He also turned his tongue on 49ers players. He ranted about Michael Crabtree, whom he termed a “sorry” and “mediocre” receiver, after he tipped a Colin Kaepernick pass intended for Crabtree to seal a win over the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game after the 2013 season.
After linebacker Malcolm Smith, now with the 49ers, intercepted the pass, Sherman gave Kaepernick the choke sign and mockingly extended a handshake to Crabtree.
Ten months after spoiling the 49ers’ Super Bowl quest, Sherman ruined their Thanksgiving. After he had two interceptions in a 19-3 win in November 2014, he and quarterback Russell Wilson ate turkey legs at midfield at Levi’s Stadium.