American broadcaster and former NFL wide receiver Cris Collinsworth held a talk with Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden on his podcast featuring San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman. Despite having an apparent warning from Collinsworth on a possible tampering violation, Gruden didn't show any signs of fear and publicly recruited Sherman to join his team.
“I know there’s tampering rules out there and I don’t want to bring up anything that might create a problem for you, because I know that you’ve been fined a few shekels over the years,” Collinsworth said.
“Yes I have,” Gruden said. “I’ve been fined, I’ve been punished very, very harshly. Richard Sherman, if you are a free agent, which there is a rumor you are, we are looking for an alpha presence in our secondary. Somebody that could play this Hawk 3-press technique with the read step. If you’re available and interested, maybe you and I can get together at some point off air.”
His invitation came after former Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley packed his bags and joined the Raiders' staff in January of 2021. Sherman previously played under Bradley in his first two years in the league where he racked up the best statistical season of his career back in 2012.
Having experienced success with Bradley dating back to their days with the Seahawks, Sherman was sure to entertain Gruden's plan.
“There’s a conversation to be had, for sure. I am free and available these days,” he replied.
After hearing the said conversation in the podcast, one general manager claimed, “This is blatant tampering,” as per Pro Football Talk. Gruden did make a public statement of interest to another club's player (Sherman) which was a violation of the league's Anti-Tampering policy.
In addition, Gruden also assumed that Sherman is already a free agent today. However, the cornerback's existing contract won't expire until March 17, which marks the start of the new league year. The NFL has yet to issue a statement regarding the situation between Jon Gruden and Richard Sherman. But if the Raiders could sign him, it would certainly be valuable.
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