It doesn’t matter what season it is, the NFL is always near the top of the sports news. This particular nugget of news, floating around the rumor mill (and then confirmed) for the past few days, is like headline generation gold. The always loud and oft quoted Richard Sherman? Check. The polarizing, always newsworthy New England Patriots? Check. A possibly floated rare trade involving a bona fide star player? Check. You now have a story that can live in the sports news cycle for days.
To back up, if you haven’t heard, there are rumors that the Seattle Seahawks have tacitly put Richard Sherman on the trade block. And, among the interested teams is allegedly the New England Patriots. However, like any good sports talk story, the sources conflict on the Patriots interest. The interesting wrinkle that propelled this story to the next level is the fact that Seahawks General Manager John Schneider essentially confirmed the fact that Sherman is on the trade block on Seattle sports talk radio.
This has sent sports media into a tizzy. Myself included, if I can be so bold as to refer to myself as a member of said media. The topics suddenly exploded exponentially. What would such a trade look like? Would it be a good idea for either the Seahawks, the Patriots or both? But, perhaps as much as anything else, one topic I’ve seen more than any other is should the Seahawks even consider trading a “face-of-the-franchise” player?
The arguments against doing so are pretty obvious. Richard Sherman is a vocal team leader (although critics would argue too much so) and is one of the founding members of the Seahawks signature “Legion of Boom.” His on-the-field performance has been stellar, notching 10 more interceptions than any other player since his start in the league. He’s been a Seahawk his entire career and should the team really look to change that.
In short, should Richard Sherman be on the trade block? My answer: unequivocally yes.
To clarify, I love Richard Sherman. I wear his #25 jersey every Seahawks Sunday (and sometimes on other days, wishfully urging football season to come back). His play has been phenomenal and I’ve been a defender of his particular style of vocal leadership. Also, it is worth noting that, to me, the questions of “Should Richard Sherman be on the trade block?” and “Should the Seahawks trade Richard Sherman?” are two very different questions.
My reasoning is this: they say the NFL is a business. For some, like owners, that can be the business of making money but, for a General Manager and coaching staff, it’s the business of winning championships and being competitive. In my view, any player should be on the table, however unlikely the scenario is in which they’d be traded. If some team wants to “overpay” in draft picks for a player and it can set a team up for the future, then any player should be considered tradeable. It may sound harsh but the goal of competing for championships year in and year out requires some tough decisions.
That said, will the Hawks trade Sherman? Highly doubtful but, if the right offer came along, I’d pull the trigger. It’s just a matter of what the right offer might look like.
