Should the Vikings make a play for Richard Sherman?

Photo by Jonathan Ferrey / Getty

The Minnesota Vikings don’t appear to have a great need at cornerback heading into the 2018 season, but there’s a reason it’s often said you can’t have too much depth at the position. Xavier Rhodes is a bona fide superstar and hitting his prime at 27, but Terence Newman is approaching 40 and can’t be counted on moving forward, despite his solid 2017 season. There was a lot to like from Trae Waynes, who played more snaps than Rhodes last season and showed great signs of improvement. Likewise, despite only being on the field for just over 32% of the defensive plays in 2017 and putting together a dismal 43.8 PFF grade, Alexander too showed signs of improvement, and fans are hoping he can follow the path of Waynes and improve drastically year to year. Enter Richard Sherman – once of the finest CBs in the NFL coming off an achilles injury, but potentially on the trade block as the Seattle Seahawks look to clear cap space. Should the Vikings make a play for Sherman?

Sherman played just nine games in 2017 before suffering a season ending injury. Although he’s 30 years old and past his prime, he did manage two interceptions, seven passes defended and thirty-five tackles (and a PFF grade of 82.7) in his shortened season. His salary of $11 million for the 2018 is far too high considering his age and recent injury, which is precisely the reason the Seahawks may look to deal him before the draft for a mid-round pick. The only situation in which it would make sense for the Vikings to acquire Sherman is if they traded and then extended his contract, reducing the cap hit for 2018 and keeping him around for a few more seasons. Another factor that makes the situation unlikely is that the Vikings have few draft picks already, although the two additional compensatory 6th round picks they are likely to be awarded today do give them some flexibility.

Let’s say the Vikings offer a 3rd round pick for Sherman, and offer him a three-year $20 million contract. A CB duo of Rhodes and Sherman would certainly be a mouthwatering prospect. There’s no doubt in my mind that Sherman is a superior player to either Waynes or Alexander (assuming he’s something like the player he was before his achilles injury…a big assumption to make), although both will hopefully take further steps forward this offseason and prove me wrong in 2018. It’s Spielman’s job to be continually looking for ways to improve the football team, and bringing in a guy of Sherman’s caliber is an interesting proposition.

Will it happen? It’s incredibly unlikely. But if you’d told me six months ago Case Keenum and Nick Foles would be duking it out in the NFC Championship game, I’d have told you you were crazy as well. Never say never.

 

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