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Bucs fans have been clamoring for an addition to their beleaguered secondary all season. Now, it appears they may get it. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, 5-time Pro Bowl cornerback Richard Sherman is visiting Tampa Bay today. Sherman has remained unsigned since he hit free agency in March.
Five-time Pro Bowl CB Richard Sherman is heading to Tampa for a visit with the #Bucs, sources tell me and @RapSheet.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 28, 2021
In addition to his five Pro Bowls, Sherman is a 3-time first team All-Pro and a 2-time second team All-Pro. The 33-year old missed most of the 2020 season with a calf strain, but was dominant in 2019. Sherman intercepted five passes (including playoffs), had 13 pass breakups and earned another Pro Bowl trip. Pro Football Focus gave Sherman a jaw-dropping 90.5 grade in coverage in 2019.
The Bucs are far from the only team pursuing Sherman, but they are the first to receive a visit. Pelissero previously reported that San Francisco and Seattle, both Sherman’s past teams, have pursued the all-time great as well.
Multiple contenders have been aggressive in their pursuit of Richard Sherman over the past couple weeks. But it's the Super Bowl champs who get him in the building first later today to try to get a deal done. https://t.co/F7R4tcyfG3
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 28, 2021
Off the field, Sherman is a question mark right now. Revered for his character throughout most of his career, Sherman was arrested on five misdemeanor charges in July. The charges included driving under the influence and second-degree criminal trespassing. Sherman crashed his SUV in a construction zone before trying to bust through the door of a family member’s home.
Pelissero wrote the following ten days ago:
Police said Sherman didn’t physically assault anyone; he pled not guilty to all charges and pledged to seek help.
A person close to Sherman said he has been doing magnetic therapy and speaking with a therapist since the incident, helping him work through many issues he didn’t have the tools to address before. He also has dropped 15 pounds — weight he put on after an Achilles tear in 2017 and kept on for most of his three seasons in San Francisco.
The league is reviewing Sherman’s legal situation. The 2020 substance-abuse policy calls for a baseline three-game suspension without pay for a first DUI offense, but the NFL generally doesn’t hand down discipline until the legal process is complete, meaning Sherman likely would be free to play immediately
On the field, Sherman can help the Bucs if he’s healthy and in shape. Tampa Bay doesn’t know how long they’ll be without Sean Murphy-Bunting, and Jamel Dean went down early in Week 3 against the Rams. Head coach Bruce Arians said the team would know more about Dean’s injury on Wednesday.
Sherman has played his best football in schemes very similar to Tampa Bay’s, thriving as a zone-based corner who can handle himself in press man coverage too. The former Super Bowl champ has never been an elite athlete, but he makes up for it with rare mental processing and ball skills. In Todd Bowles’ scheme, those traits combined with physicality and tackling, are what corners need. We’ll see if a deal can be reached in the next 24 hours.
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