Richard Sherman And Buffalo Bills Not A Good Match
By Dennis Moody
Despite their needs in the secondary, Richard Sherman and the Buffalo Bills are a bad match for one another.
Rumors of Richard Sherman being on the trade market have been circulating around the media for some time. Four days ago they hit a new level when Seahawks general manager John Schneider confirmed that the team indeed has had talks about trading one of the faces of their franchise.
The Buffalo Bills need help in their secondary after the departure of Stephon Gilmore and Nickell Robey-Coleman this offseason, leaving many fans to speculate on whether Doug Whaley might be one of the general managers interested in trading for the veteran cornerback.
The answer to this question should be NO! Sherman is 29 years old and has already spent seven years in the league. While his career isn’t over, he’s likely seen his best days. He has played mostly in zone coverage and wasn’t used as a lockdown corner on a team’s top receiver the way Darrelle Revis was used in his prime. So while he is a very good cornerback, he was never asked to do things that many other top NFL cornerbacks are asked to do.
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Another reason to avoid Sherman is that the Seahawks asking price is going to be too high. His contract is reasonable at $22.4 million over the next two years according to Spotrac.com so that won’t inhibit a trade.
Seattle will almost certainly be looking for a first-round pick in return for him and possibly a late round pick as well. It doesn’t do the Bills any good to give up the number ten pick for Sherman who may only have a few good years left when they have a shot at a top cornerback in the draft who could be on their team for many more years than that.
This is also supposed to be a deep draft for cornerbacks and at a few other positions. With the Bills only having six picks as it is, they are not exactly in a situation where they can afford to give out extra draft picks when they still have a few holes to fill on their roster.
Further complicating the matter, Sherman was involved in two controversial plays against the Bills in their Monday Night Football matchup last year. One involved Sherman jacking up Walter Powell far away from the play in the endzone at the end of the game. The other play involved a dirty hit on a defenseless Dan Carpenter after the whistle was blown on a field goal attempt at the end of the first half. Both plays left a bitter taste in Bills fans mouth for the cornerback.
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For all of these reasons, Richard Sherman and the Buffalo Bills are just not a match for each other. Doug Whaley should stay away from Sherman as he’s just not worth the price that he would command in a trade and the Bills will have cheaper options with more future upside for the franchise in the draft.