© James Snook | 2018 Dec 2
At 30 years old, Richard Sherman is entering the back end of his career. Midway through his eighth NFL season and first with the 49ers, Sherman reflected on what his remaining years playing football will look like.
Sherman told Nick Wagoner of ESPN that he expects to retire five years from now.
“I think 35 is probably my cutoff,” Sherman told ESPN. “They’d have a hard time getting me out of the bed at 35 to go play, so I think I’ve got about four or five more (seasons) in me. At some point, everybody makes the transition to safety and if you’re smart enough to play that game and I’ll probably do that in a couple of years or whenever the team needs.”
Sherman is still playing at an elite level in his first season coming off an Achilles injury in 2017. According to Pro Football Focus, when targeting Sherman, quarterbacks had the lowest NFL passer rating allowed among cornerbacks in Weeks 1-6.
Still, Sherman believes it’s only a matter of time before he transitions to the safety position, something many veteran cornerbacks have done at the tail end of their careers.
“At some point, everybody makes the transition to safety and if you’re smart enough to play that game and I’ll probably do that in a couple of years or whenever the team needs.
“At corner, I’ve had games where I haven’t got a look, thrown at, and at safety you can see exactly where the ball goes and you can make an impact. You can get in on every tackle just about because you’re in the center of everything, kind of like the Mike [linebacker]. But it’s something I’m definitely going to consider later in my career and hopefully I’ll be just as good there.”