Likelihood of Seahawks trading Richard Sherman gone after first day of NFL Draft passes

RENTON – If it wasn’t already clear, it is now: Richard Sherman isn’t going anywhere this season.

That seemed like the likely outcome all along, even more so of late with general manager John Schneider declaring that it would take nothing less than another team blowing the Seahawks away with an offer for their All-Pro cornerback. And it seems all but certain that Sherman is staying put now that the first round of the NFL Draft has passed without a trade.

Seahawks trade out of first round | 710Sports.com’s NFL Draft page

If the Seahawks were going to deal Sherman, it was in all likelihood going to happen before the end of the first day of the draft, when whatever teams that may have been interested in him still had the first-round pick that it would have taken – at least – to pry him away from Seattle.

When asked earlier this week when the cutoff point would be for a possible Sherman trade, Schneider said, “It’s pretty much on us right now,” a reference to the first round of the draft only a few days away.

Schneider was again speaking transparently about the Seahawks being open to trading Sherman, as he and coach Pete Carroll have done for the last month. He was much less candid when asked after the first round if there were any more calls Thursday involving teams interested in a Sherman trade.

“I’d rather not get into that, sorry,” he said. “There’s just calls about tons of players, so it’s not specifically Richard.”

That ship has sailed, which means Sherman is set to be back for a seventh season as Seattle’s starting left cornerback.

That’s still a position of need for Seattle, even with Sherman staying put.

DeShawn Shead, last year’s starter, is coming off a serious knee injury and will likely miss the start of the season. Jeremy Lane could slide outside and replace Shead, but that would create a hole at nickelback, which the Seahawks used on more than 70 percent of their defensive snaps last season. Neiko Thorpe is a candidate to start after re-signing with Seattle over the offseason, but it’s a position the Seahawks will no doubt beef up with one and probably more of the 10 picks they hold over the final six rounds.

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