Richard Sherman drawing interest from multiple teams; 49ers could land star corner

The Richard Sherman free agency tour could be over before it ever really even gets started.

According to the Athletic, Sherman was spotted eating dinner with 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan on Friday in the Bay Area, just hours after he was released by the Seahawks. This dinner wasn't a friendly chit-chat, either, and that's because the 49ers appear to have some serious interest in bringing Sherman to San Francisco.

According to ESPN.com, Sherman is scheduled to meet with more 49ers officials on Saturday so they can gauge how well he's recovering from his Achilles tear that he suffered in early November. At that point, if the 49ers like what they see, the team "will try to get a contract done" and there's a "real chance" it will happen, according to ESPN.

For Sherman, there's multiple upsides to signing with the 49ers. For one, he would get to play the Seahawks twice a year. Not to mention, the 29-year-old would also get to return to his home state of California. Sherman went to high school in Southern California before heading to Stanford for college. Sherman is also somewhat familiar with the scheme run by 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. It's the perfect trifecta of reasons for the four-time Pro Bowler to end up in San Francisco.

Of course, the 49ers are only going to sign Sherman if they're satisfied with his health and there's no guarantee that's going to happen. Sherman missed seven games in 2017 after tearing his right Achilles tendon, and also had to have surgery on his left leg this offseason to clean out bone spurs.

The big injury there is the Achilles tear and that's because coming back from that isn't easy. The recovery timeline for an injury like that is generally 10 to 12 months, which means Sherman might not be ready for the beginning of the 2018 season.

Sherman clearly doesn't think the Achilles injury will be able to slow him down next season. After he was cut on Friday, the former Seahawks corner, who turns 30 on March 30, shared some statistics to prove that he's not "slowin' down."

If Sherman and the 49ers can't work out a deal on Saturday, then we'll likely see the Richard Sherman free agency tour go into full swing over the next few weeks.

So who else might be interested in the three-time All-Pro corner?

Sherman told ESPN.com that he's received "preliminary interest from the Titans, Lions, Raiders, Texans, Buccaneers and Packers."

The Seahawks corner said on Friday that he wants to go to a "contender," which tells you all you need to know about the 49ers. If Sherman signs with them, that means he's likely confident enough that they can be a playoff team in 2018.

Let's block ads! (Why?)