What jersey number will Richard Sherman wear for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers added to their cornerback room with the signing of veteran cornerback Richard Sherman.
Signed on Wednesday morning, the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl-winning corner previously of the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers got straight to work for the Buccaneers.
We are accustomed to seeing Sherman don his favorite digits, the number 25, as it has been a staple of the corner's career that has spanned over a decade.
When Sherman ran out onto the practice field for the Bucs, he wasn’t wearing his usual 25, and was instead repping the number five. What is perhaps a little surprising is that the Buccaneers had his previous number of 25 available so he could have taken it, yet Sherman decided to go with five.
CB Richard Sherman signing one-year deal with Buccaneers. https://t.co/lK2gJqIfDj
Why this is, no one knows. But clearly he, like many others around the league, is taking full advantage of the NFL's recent rule change to allow players from different positions to take different numbers. Either that or since he is signing with a new team, he may have wanted a fresh start and to leave his old number behind.
Sherman returns to the NFL after he was arrested in July of this year. He was charged by police with five misdemeanors that came from an incident in Washington at his in-law’s home in Redmond.
The 33-year-old pleaded not guilty to the charges and will attend a pretrial hearing that will take place on Friday in Washington, making it a little tricky to predict if he will be available for the Tom Brady’s return to New England.
Sherman the missing piece of Tampa's defense?
With Sherman signing, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have looked to solidify their back end at corner. Having given up 29, 25 and 34 points in their first three games, Todd Bowles’ defense is not the same dominating force it was in 2020. The Bucs are hoping the addition of Sherman will help cover the secondary that is young and currently has injuries.
Corners Jamel Dean and Sean Murphy-Bunting are both dealing with knee and dislocated elbow injuries respectively, and with Sherman he can help shoulder the load until the pair return.
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were not the only team interested in the veteran’s services with his old teams in the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers, along with the unbeaten Carolina Panthers, all interested. But it was a call from Tom Brady that persuaded Sherman to choose the Bucs.
“I went with the best offer I had, the best opportunity to go out there and put some great tape on, to lead another group,” Sherman said on his podcast, the Richard Sherman podcast.
"I feel comfortable and confident in my abilities to go out there and execute and help that team win.”
Some have said that the signing of Sherman hints at a little desperation from the Buccaneers, as their defense has started poorly in 2021 and looking to a 33-year-old to solve their current problems is a little misguided.
But with Sherman, the Buccaneers have themselves a quality cornerback with something to prove. With it only being a one-year deal, it is a no-brainer for Tampa Bay to take a chance. If they get the Seahawks version of Sherman, then the Buccaneers just got a whole lot better.