https://twitter.com/RaiderPosts/status/1356830363566366727
Richard Sherman made his name as a cornerback in Gus Bradley’s scheme. Now in the twilight of his career, might it be time to reunite?
Bradley, who was the Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator during the beginning of the “Legion of Boom” era from 2009-2012, was just hired by Jon Gruden as the new DC of the Las Vegas Raiders. Gruden and Sherman were joint guests on Chris Collinsworth’s podcast, and Gruden took the opportunity to pretty blatantly tell Sherman that he’d be interested in the 10-year veteran heading to Vegas this offseason. Sherman is expected to become a free agent, and not be retained by the 49ers.
“Richard Sherman if you are a free agent, which there is a rumor you are, we are looking for an alpha presence in our secondary, someone who can play this Hawk 3 press technique with a read step,” Gruden said. “If you are available and interested, maybe you and I can get together sometime off the air.”
Sherman sounded interested in the idea, and praised Bradley’s system.
“There is a conversation to be had for sure. I am free and available these days, fortunately and unfortunately. That scheme that Gus runs, he runs it more than anybody else. There are some coaches that dabble in and dabble out and go man and go zone and go quarters, Gus lives in it. Gus lives and dies by it. Eight man box, you’re not going to be able to run the ball, and we’re going to stop the pass.”
It’s not clear if these comments will violate the NFL’s Anti-Tampering policy, though they would seem to. Perhaps Gruden got himself off the hook by framing it as a hypothetical (“if you are a free agent”). If Gruden is dinged by the league, it wouldn’t be the first time.
“I’ve been punished very, very harshly.”
