Bobby Wagner ‘Would Love’ Richard Sherman Reunion With Seattle Seahawks

In his 10th season in the NFL, Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner is no stranger to the short-term nature of the league’s affairs. Linked to quarterback Russell Wilson as the longest-serving player on the team since their respective draft selections in 2012, Wagner has seen many of his teammates and friends come and go in the Pacific Northwest.

No loss could hit him harder than that of linebacker KJ Wright, his right-hand man who currently remains a free agent but is all but abandoned after 10 years in the “Emerald City” of Seattle. Once Wright’s vacation is completed as expected, Wagner and Wilson will be the only players left on the 2013 Seahawks Super Bowl winners list.

That number could rise by one in due course, however, as the team stays in touch with former Legion of Boom maestro Richard Sherman. Like Wright, the 33-year-old cornerback is still a free agent with less than three weeks prior to the start of training camps in the league.

Seahawks trainer Pete Carroll and General Manager John Schneider, who have shattered any idea of ​​bad blood between the team and Sherman, have expressed an interest in a possible reunion. Sherman is certainly holding the door open as he apparently nears a decision on his next destination, with ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler recently adding to the interest of the future Hall of Famer.

When the two sides finally come to an agreement, Wagner would be thrilled to see Sherman in a Seahawks uniform again.

“Oh, I would love it,” said Wagner Seahawk Maven in an exclusive interview. “When he comes back, I would love to have him. He’s someone I loved to play with. You know, we had a lot of fun in the field, a lot of fun outside of the field. “

When Sherman was fired from the Seahawks in 2018 and then brought his talents to division rival 49ers, he and Wagner naturally remained friends, but also in some ways teammates at BODYARMOR. Although he was already a fan and consumer of the sports drink, Wagner credits Sherman as an integral part of getting him on board as the company’s investor and spokesman in the mid-2010s.

“I think I drank it before I knew Sherm was involved,” revealed Wagner. “But Sherm definitely played a big part in my involvement with the brand in some way.”

Could it be Wagner, who is serving as a key broker of opportunities this time around, leading the campaign for Sherman’s return to Seattle? Perhaps, although at this point it ultimately falls on the shoulders of Carroll and Schneider.

The Seahawks’ current cornerback group was scrutinized very closely at the independent agency over the course of the off-season following the departure of Week 1 starters of 2020, Shaquill Griffin and Quinton Dunbar. On paper, they’re widely considered to be the most worrying positional group for a team with Super Bowl aspirations, and Sherman, who has been playing healthy at a high level lately, should be able to alleviate some of that.

However, this is a team that has shown their confidence in what they already have in the house, particularly with 2020 Breakout DJ Reed, free agent addition Ahkello Witherspoon and Tre Brown for the fourth round in 2021. Sherman, aged 33 years old, would most likely be a short-term fix for the Seahawks preventing them from figuring out whether younger players like Reed or Witherspoon, who are free agents in 2022, are a better fit in the long run.

This is also a team that currently only has $ 8.3 million in salary caps, according to OverTheCap.com. With Duane Brown and collateral Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams looking for contract renewals, signing additional external free agents is probably not at the forefront of the Seahawks’ collective thinking right now. And Sherman isn’t going to be cheap, according to Fowler’s July 4th report.

But from a sentimental standpoint, it’s easy to see why this continues to be a talking point in the Seattle fan base. Again, if he’s healthy, Sherman was still producing at this point in his career, recording four interceptions and 16 pass diversions in 34 games for the 49ers with an opposing pass rating of 90.6. On his way to his third career Super Bowl appearance and the first in San Francisco in 2019, Sherman earned the second-team All-Pro award while earning an Elite Pro Football Focus grade of 88.9.

The only noticeable number on Sherman’s statistics sheet, however, is his 1-2 Super Bowl record. The completed corner had to watch twice as his second ring slipped through his fingers from the sidelines; the first was of course in Super Bowl XLIX when Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler intercepted Russell Wilson on the goal line, and again in Super Bowl LIV when 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo toppled a wide-open Emmanuel Sanders for a potential touchdown.

Sherman, returning to Seattle to correct this and finally lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy, is the storybook finish many fans dream of this off-season. It would be great for Wagner to have just one of his best friends back in the same field as him.

“I learned a lot from him,” said Wagner. “Whether it’s business, whether it’s family, whether it’s football or life. So I would definitely love to see one of your brothers come back. I would love it and you know , I hope that it works.”

Special thanks go to BODYARMOR for making this interview possible. You can find more information about BODYARMOR, its partners and sources of supply on its website.