It won’t be this year or the next, but at some point before he calls it quits on a likely Hall of Fame career, cornerback Richard Sherman is likely to make the move to safety, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch writes.
The four-time First Team All-Pro selection is open to it at least, saying:
“It’s definitely something that I’ve looked at,” Sherman said. “And something that I’ve talked with (Charles Woodson) about.”
In the first of a three-year deal with the 49ers, Sherman still rates as an above average cornerback according to Pro Football Focus. Now in his 30s, however, the star defender is already looking to make a similar move that prolonged the careers of Charles Woodson, Rod Woodson and Aeneas Williams. Despite the move, don’t expect him to play into his late 30s.
“I think 35 is probably my cutoff,” Sherman said. “I don’t think I want to play … they’d have a hard time getting me out of bed at 35 to go play. I think I’ve got four or five more (years) in me.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- After his benching, Blake Bortles is unlikely to be back with the Jaguars next season, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio writes. With $6.5MM of Bortles’ $16.5MM contract next season guaranteed, the Jaguars can hope that some team signs him for $6.5MM — unlikely — or package him in a trade with a team that would be considering signing him, a la Brock Osweiler. The Jaguars will still have a cap charge of $10MM, but the team can push $5MM of that into 2020.
- The Ravens did not activate cornerback Jaylen Hill from the PUP list, officially ending his season. Recovering from a torn ACL and MCL, Hill was unlikely to take the field after recently suffering a setback.
- With the college game becoming more intertwined with the professional ranks, Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports listed 10 college coaches who could make the jump to the NFL. To no one’s surprise, Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley was at the top of the heap thanks to his high-powered offense that produced a Heisman Trophy winner in Baker Mayfield, and potentially another in Kyler Murray. Other notable names on the list include Stanford’s David Shaw, former 49ers coach and current Michigan man Jim Harbaugh and Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald.
Why Jacksonville have Bortles that extension was beyond me. Should have just road out the original contract.
Made zero sense at the time, and even less sense now.
I wouldn’t say it made zero sense, but they should have structured the contract better in case Bortles didn’t continue to improve.
The Jags offense did well last season in the playoffs, and the Jags had hoped Bortles could build off that momentum coming into this season.
They gave him the extension as a sign to Bortles that they believed in him, and they were hoping that show of faith could also help him continue to build off of last season..Well, it didn’t work out, and blew up..
It wasn’t a bad like of thinking, they should have just prepared themselves a lot better in case Bortles couldn’t build off that momentum..That’s really where they went wrong, not having a better plan B..
Not sticking up for Bortles, but he didn’t have Fournette for a while, and while Yeldon is OK, he didn’t give that Offense the look that Fournette gives them. I believe Fournette is the reason their O is any good at all.
Dak with Zeke vs Dak without Zeke. Also that O-Line is middle of the road.
I think Chip Kelly soured a lot of the enthusiasm that once existed for college coaches being hired for the top job. Most NFL teams now want to bring these guys up through the system for a few years first before giving them the keys to drive.
As a Sooners fan, I selfishly hoped Riley stays put.
Not a Sooners fun, but I would feel the same way. I think he needs to be an NFL OC first before becoming an NFL HC.
The problem is some of these college coaches would be better suited as coordinators before being HC in the NFL, but just doesnt seem to happen like that. Why leave college if you’re paid 3-6M?
As a Packers fan I’m hoping for someone with NFL experience. That being said, Riley is intriguing, but needs a lot of help especially on the defensive side of the ball. I would still feel a lot more comfortable with an experienced NFL coach…. not named Harbaugh.