Report: Seahawks could lose 2nd-round draft pick for not disclosing Richard Sherman injury

The Seahawks might lose a second-round pick in April’s NFL Draft for not disclosing on their practice reports a knee injury suffered by cornerback Richard Sherman, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen.

The @Seahawks could lose 2nd round pick as NFL considers penalties for failure to disclose Richard Sherman's knee injury. More on @ESPNNFL

— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 19, 2017

Mortensen reports that the pick would likely be an elevation of a fifth-round selection that Seattle has already lost as a penalty for a repeat offseason training activity (OTA) violation. So the Seahawks wouldn’t be docked another draft pick, but the one pick they would be without would considerably more valuable.

The Seahawks and coach Pete Carroll could also be subject to fines by the NFL, according to Mortenson.

The news of Sherman’s knee injury was revealed Monday by Carroll on 710 ESPN Seattle’s “Brock and Salk.” Carroll said the injury was to Sherman’s MCL and that it bothered him during the second half of the season. He used the words “significant” and “legit” to describe it. Even though Sherman didn’t miss any snaps during the season due to injury and every practice he missed was categorized as “not injury related,” the fact that mention of his knee injury never found its way onto a practice or injury report could construed as a violation of the NFL’s policy, which states:

“The Practice Report provides clubs and fans with an accurate description of a player’s injury status and how much he participated in practice during the week. If any player has a significant or noteworthy injury, it must be listed on the practice report, even if he fully participates in practice and the team expects that he will play in the team’s next game. This is especially important for key players whose injuries may be covered extensively by the media.”

After his statements on “Brock and Salk,” Carroll admitted later Monday in an end-of-season press conference that not disclosing Sherman’s injury on practice reports may have been a mistake on his part.

“Honestly, I didn’t realize we hadn’t revealed it,” Carroll said. “I don’t even remember what game it was. It was somewhere in the middle … I don’t know. He was fine about it. He didn’t miss anything. The same with Russell (Wilson), he was fine about it. I don’t know how they do that, but they did.”

Of note, Sherman is slated to play in the Pro Bowl next weekend, which would lend credence to the defense that his injury was not all that significant.

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