Report: Seattle’s efforts to stifle Sherman to Bucs fell flat

Whatever your feelings may be on the idea of a Richard Sherman/Seattle Seahawks reunion, we can now feel confident that it will not happen this season, as John reported this morning. But reports are now indicating that the front office made one last-ditch, hail mary effort to bring Sherm back to the VMAC. And Sherm intercepted that Hail Mary, ran it all the way to Tampa Bay, and spiked it in the meeting room where he made the signing official this morning.

Sounding vaguely reminiscent of the Peyton Manning - Pete Carroll debacle of 2012, the Seahawks apparently only cared enough to aggressively pursue Sherman’s services once they had learned he would be signing somewhere else, which begs the question (given the current state of things): do the Seahawks want to build a formidable defense, or do they simply want what they can’t have?

After an offseason that saw many fans and analysts suggesting/predicting that a reunion was in the works, the cornerback-needy Seahawks chose a different path, electing to field a defense that would feature DJ Reed and Tre Flowers as starters, while signing/cutting/trading players like Ahkello Witherspoon and Pierre Desir. Rookie Tre Brown remains unlikely to see the field in the immediate future due to a knee injury, and the pass defense is in shambles. While it is still early, it is fair to say that returns thus far indicate that the strategy backfired. What remains to be seen is how Richard Sherman will fair playing with/under former rivals Tom Brady and Bruce Arians. The Seahawks and Bucaneers are not slated to play in 2021, so the Hawks will not see Sherman on either sideline at any point during the regular season for the first time in a decade.

Below is a breakdown on the contract that Sherman is signing with Tampa Bay.

Admittedly, I was not a huge proponent of a reunion during the offseason, as I would rather look towards the future than to Super Bowls past, but after seeing this contract — along with seeing Seattle’s on-field defensive performance — I am curious why they felt interested enough to try to break up the signing, but not enough to offer some of their relatively ample cap space to make a better initial offer. Regardless, a deal is done and we shall see how it ends up turning out for the defending Super Bowl champions, as well as for the defending NFC West champions.