Sherman would be 'ecstatic' if 49ers return does happen originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
NFL free agency is over, as is the 2021 draft. And yet, Richard Sherman still is looking for a team to play for ahead of this year's season.
The longer the wait, the more likely a return to the 49ers is for the star cornerback. He would be quite happy if that does happen, too.
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"There's always a chance it could end up working back in the Bay, that I head back that way," Sherman said Wednesday morning on ESPN's "First Take." "That's another place I'm really comfortable going. Obviously know the staff, know the team well.
"Just spent time there and would be ecstatic if something happened there."
If he does come back, though, it sounds like it won't be in the near future.
"They have a situation -- it's one of those things where it would probably happened late or during the season, if anything, if it happens at all," Sherman said.
Sherman told NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco in December that a re-signing with the 49ers wasn't likely because of the team's salary-cap constraints. General manager John Lynch didn't agree with Sherman's take, but the veteran cornerback doubled down multiple times.
But at the end of last month, he told ESPN's Stephen A. Smith that remaining a 49er "isn't out of the cards." The 49ers responded by saying they would "never rule him out."
Sherman signed a three-year contract with the 49ers ahead of the 2018 season after spending seven seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. He looked back to his star self in 2019, but played just five games last season.
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At 33 years old, Sherman isn't the same shutdown cornerback he once was. However, he still can play at an elite level at times and would help any secondary. We just don't know if that will be in San Francisco's secondary.
But we can't completely rule it out anymore.
