Richard Sherman‘s 49ers tour began with a dinner with Kyle Shanahan on Friday night, and the sides took more formal steps on Saturday. Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee reports Sherman took a physical with the 49ers today and met with more team officials. After undergoing Achilles surgery in November, Sherman underwent a procedure to remove a bone spur in his other heel last month. Barrows notes the soon-to-be 30-year-old cornerback plans to be running at full speed again at some point in April. Sherman plans to be ready to participate in training camp. Sherman may or may not have a Lions visit scheduled.
Here’s the latest from the West divisions as the legal tampering period looms in less than 48 hours.
- Despite the 49ers pursuing Sherman, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com does not expect the team to go after Trumaine Johnson. He doesn’t expect the 28-year-old defender, and one who will command big money next week, to fit into the 49ers’ model of aiming for sustained success. San Francisco, though, has more than $70MM in cap space and has a need at corner. Maiocco, though, notes the 49ers are “extremely excited” about 2017 third-rounder Ahkello Witherspoon‘s development. Witherspoon graded as a top-50 Pro Football Focus corner last season in 660 snaps. It looks like he could be one of San Francisco’s starters next season opposite a UFA acquisition.
- One player Witherspoon may not be guarding twice next year is Paul Richardson. The UFA wide receiver sent out a tweet that certainly makes it look like he won’t be playing for the Seahawks next season. A 2014 second-round pick who didn’t impress much until his contract year, Richardson caught 44 passes for 703 yards and six touchdowns last season and is expected to have a competitive market. And the Seahawks still have Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett under contract. However, this wouldn’t be the first time a Seahawks wideout indicated he was likely headed out the door only to return to Seattle. Jermaine Kearse was more declarative about departing the Pacific Northwest in 2016 before re-signing to stay in his home state shortly after.
- Tom Cable would prefer the Raiders retain Marshawn Lynch for a second season, Scott Bair of CSN Bay Area reports. Oakland’s new offensive line coach, of course, worked with the running back during his peak years. Nothing has been decided on Lynch yet. The soon-to-be 32-year-old back is due a $4MM base salary in 2018 if he remains on the Raiders’ roster. He’s due a $1MM roster bonus on March 18.