Richard Sherman is the latest star to take his talents to Tampa Bay.
The free-agent cornerback has had an infammatory offseason, highlighted by his arrest and subsequent apology, but on Wednesday he announced he is returning to the gridiron, joining Tampa Bay for the remainder of the 2021 season.
On Episode 1 of “The Richard Sherman Podcast,” “Richard Schefter” announced he was joining the Bucs and explained his decision to join up in Tampa Bay.
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I finally had enough conversations and came to a decision that I’m going to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Woo! All the craziness, and then all the hate, and then all the tweets ’cause everybody’s mad I didn’t go to their team — I am sorry. I went with the best offer I had, the best opportunity to go out there and put some great tape on, to lead another group. I feel comfortable and confident in my abilities to go out there and execute and help that team win. … This was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I weighed all the options with my wife and my family, and this is what we came up with.
Obviously, they’re coming off a Super Bowl. They returned all their starters. They have a great, veteran team. Tons of talent. Obviously, Tom Brady at the helm, you always got a chance. Great receiving corps — elite receiving corps. A great, grizzly, veteran front seven and a very talented front end. It’s an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. It’s a proven team. I just gotta go in there and prove these old legs still got some juice.
Among other things, Sherman said he feels like he’s a good scheme fit with Todd Bowles’ defense, which is more blitz and man-coverage heavy than the Cover 3 zone he had played in Seattle.
The veteran cornerback says that Brady reached out initially to check if he was in shape, and they both thought it’d be “cool” if they had an opportunity to play together. The stars aligned for both parties to get together, despite their history.
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Sherman said the 49ers showed interest in a reunion with Sherman services this offseason, along with the Panthers and the Seahawks. Carolina traded for cornerback CJ Henderson on Monday.
Tampa Bay looks to repeat this season, and after a tough loss to NFC Champion hopeful Rams, adding Sherman to the secondary can only help in the quest.
If it doesn’t work out, then maybe the real Schefter needs to watch his back.