POLL RESULTS: Opinions split on Seahawks’ Richard Sherman

There appears to be little consensus with regards to what the Seattle Seahawks should do about star cornerback Richard Sherman.

Sherman enters the 2018 season with a lot of question marks. The four-time Pro Bowler is entering the final season of the lucrative contract extension he signed in 2014, and he’s coming off an Achilles injury that ended his 2017 campaign.

Sherman was still playing at an elite level when he went down injured, effectively taking away a third of the field from the opposing quarterback, and with question marks surrounding Kam Chancellor’s health and Earl Thomas’ contract he may be the last remnant of the Legion of Boom. However, he’ll be 30 years old during the 2018 season, and he’ll count $13.2 million against the salary cap for a team that’s strapped for cash — the Seahawks currently have about $14 million in cap space heading into the free-agent period, and some of that will be needed for signing draft picks.

Therefore, this week’s Seattle Sidelines poll asked readers’ opinion on what the Seahawks should do about Sherman this offseason. Here’s how you voted:

POLL: What should the Seahawks do about star cornerback Richard Sherman, who’s coming off injury and entering the final season of his contract? Full context here: https://t.co/WEuxA8Siec

— Nick Patterson (@NickHPatterson) February 12, 2018

Add the two together and the votes are all over the map. The most votes went toward having Sherman play out his contract, but the 36 percent was far from a majority. Nearly identical vote totals were given to signing Sherman to a contract extension and trading him, both of which garnered 27 percent of the vote, with trading him getting one more tally. Ten percent were in favor of releasing Sherman outright and using the cap savings elsewhere.

So there’s a lot of conflicting opinions.

Last offseason there were many reports about the Seahawks being willing to entertain the idea of trading Sherman, with Seattle general manager John Schneider acknowledging that trade talks occurred. Those rumblings are beginning again, as this week Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reported that the Seahawks are again willing to hear offers for their star cornerback.

Seattle has a number of roster issues it needs to address this offseason. The Seahawks have a lengthy list of free agents to sort through, including deciding what to do about tight ends Jimmy Graham and Luke Willson and defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson. They have to decide what to do about Chancellor and defensive end Cliff Avril, whose injuries threaten their careers. They have to decide whether to sign Thomas to an extension or risk the possibility of a holdout. They have to decide whether they have a running back who can carry the load, or whether they have to go get someone. And somehow they have to clear some cap space to make these things happen.

But perhaps at the top of the list of tasks Seattle has to deal with is making a decision on what to do about Sherman. And as the voting shows, there’s no obvious answer on the best way to handle the situation.