Saints free agent target Richard Sherman expects to find new team after the draft

Salary cap resources dried up quickly for NFL free agents, which Richard Sherman has learned the hard way. It was previously reported that the Saints were among a group of teams interested in signing the former 49ers and Seahawks cornerback, who represents himself in negotiating with teams.

But with a wealth of options in the 2021 NFL draft (which kicks off in two weeks on Thursday, April 29), teams around the league intend to wait and circle back to Sherman after making their picks. That allows teams to both take a better look at their roster and protect their 2022 compensatory draft picks.

“Well, apparently we got to wait ’til the draft happens before anything else shakes out, because everybody has their hopes and dreams in the draft, which is understandable,” Sherman said on his podcast with Cris Collinsworth, via NBC Sports Bay Area. He bluntly added: “You turn 33, and then it’s like, ‘We’ll wait until we get a young pup; and if we can’t get a young pup, we’ll take an old fool.’ So that’s where we’re sitting.”

Injuries limited Sherman to just five games played in 2020, but he’s just a year removed from a Pro Bowl selection in 2019 in which he bagged 11 pass deflections and three interceptions, returning one takeaway for a defensive touchdown. His 61 combined tackles that year were also the second-most of his 10-year career. Maybe he can bounce back.

He certainly has fans in New Orleans. Head coach Sean Payton has admired Sherman’s game from afar for years, and Sherman’s old position coach with the Seahawks, Kris Richard, is now entering the same gig with the Saints. If they can make the money work — should the Saints not draft a corner early on — Sherman would make sense as a somewhat lateral move from Janoris Jenkins, who the Saints released as a cap cut.

He’d certainly be a better option to start opposite Marshon Lattimore than career backups like P.J. Williams and Patrick Robinson, who have played well in their roles as reserves. Still, this is an area you’d like to see the Saints get younger at after parting ways with Jenkins.

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