Richard Sherman being the cold-eyed realist he is, he sees only a marginal chance that he will be paid his real value by the San Francisco 49ers in 2021, let alone beyond. The man who helped fuel the team's turn-around from the wreckage of the last half-decade did the math and found that the math probably doesn't work for him.
That is, unless the 49ers do the thing they need to do –– pay him, offer him a job of consequence in the organization afterward and then go into creative begging mode.
In an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area's 49ers busybody Matt Maiocco, Sherman didn't go out guns blazing, but he did make it clear that early conversations haven't exactly vibrated with anticipation.
“We’ve had brief conversations,” Sherman said. “I think that there’s obviously a want from both sides to come back and make this work. Unfortunately, I don’t know that the circumstances will allow it.
"That’s the sad, sad truth. It’s one of those years where it’s not from anybody’s fault that it may not work out. And it will be a sad parting because I’ve really enjoyed my time here. I’ve enjoyed this team. I have brothers on this team, and I think we still have work to do. But I don’t know that the circumstances will allow it.”
The circumstances to which Sherman alluded was the army of free agents the 49ers have coming due this offseason, and while they will lose some of them anyway due to market opportunities, they have shown a facility for doing that salary cap dance that makes all things possible –– otherwise known as the Marathe Shake.
“There are a ton of guys that need to be paid and are coming up,” Sherman told Maiocco. “Fred Warner is coming up. There are, like, 40 free agents who need to be re-signed. At the end of the day, they have to do what’s best for the majority, for the team. And I got to understand that. And so the numbers are adding up to that I won’t be here, unless something miraculous happens, which would be really cool.”
Well, here's a notion. They re-sign Fred Warner, a any idiot would, and then they do the rest of the culling, cutting and restructuring Paraag Marathe gets paid his own ransom to do, and keep Sherman. Not because of sentimentality, but because of need. He is part of this team's new spine and soul, on the fiueld, in the room, and in a hundred conversations with teammates that don't get totted up by Pro Football Focus. Those pieces are to be cherished, not chucked, because they are far more difficult to replace than some promising third-rounder or intriguing but injury-mottled free agent.
Simply put, you pay for Richard Sherman unless you are an idiot. Period. End of sentence, end of paragraph, end of chapter. By keeping him, the 49ers maintain their devotion to continuity, commitment and brains. By letting the money get in the way and allowing him to be a Jacksovillean, Detroiter, or God help us all, a Jet, they forfeit the vision Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch have tried to impose on the company.
Now maybe Sherman actually wants to leave. Maybe the raise he wants (and deserves) is so massive that even the likelihood that the salary cap in 2021 will not include the projected $23 million cut that many teams have feared. Maybe he wants to follow Robert Saleh to whatever less-than-dream job he takes next year. Fine. The man has to chase his heart. But at least the effort was made, and the well-wishes can be sincere. The 49ers OWE him that, and much more.
But one other thing the 49ers owe is the sense that the culture they are constructing is more important than some short-term savings. Put crassly, folks like Richard Sherman are the kind of thing you scrimp on meals to maintain. Put decently, folks like Richard Sherman are the kind of people you build on ever after his legs go. Put nobly, folks like Richard Sherman make the experience of 49erhood better for everyone.
And if he leaves anyway, try to get him back in civilian clothes. He is a resource for the ages. Plus, I hear he likes the place a bit.
