Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has cooled talk of a reunion with former All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman.
Following three seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, the 33-year-old Sherman is a free agent.
In an interview with ESPN on Friday, Sherman said he had been in communication with the New Orleans Saints and Las Vegas Raiders, along with the Seahawks.
"I've talked to Sherm quite a few times here over the offseason," Carroll confirmed, as per ESPN.
"So we have stayed in contact and he's out there. I know he's thinking about it.
"He's looking for an opportunity. I saw where he said there's three or four teams he's considering or whatever.
"So we'll see what happens. But he's been a great player and he's still got some ball left in him, I'm sure.
"But at this point we're going to clear through this day, figure out what happens with the rooks coming up and we'll see where it sits later on."
The Seahawks signed Oklahoma cornerback Tre Brown with one of their three draft picks and Carroll insists a move to bring back Sherman, who starred for Seattle between 2011 and 2017, is not immediately in the works.
"That's not one of our thoughts right now that we're going out and getting another guy at that spot, but we're going to keep looking," Carroll said.
"We're not going to stop looking and we're going to compete. So in that sense, I leave everything open and that's just one of them."
Sherman was a key member of the Seahawks team that claimed Super Bowl glory in 2014 and came up agonisingly short of a repeat against the New England Patriots in the following year's showpiece.
He was named a First Team All-Pro three times in Seattle and made four Pro Bowls.
Injuries have taken an increased toll, however. The Seahawks released Sherman in the 2017 offseason after he suffered a torn Achilles and, after a fifth career Pro Bowl in 2019 and helping the 49ers to the Super Bowl, he missed 11 games with a calf injury last season.
"I want to get on a competitive team," Sherman told ESPN. "I think I still have a lot to give to the game.
"I think I still have a lot that I want to accomplish and I think I can go out there and help a defense come together like it should and reach their potential, reach the heights that the defenses that I've played on have reached."
Warren Gatland ‘no idea’ if Louis Rees-Zammit will return to rugby after NFL bid
Wales boss Warren Gatland admits he has “no idea” if Louis Rees-Zammit will play rugby union again following his switch to American football.
While Wales prepare for a Guinness Six Nations opener against Scotland, Rees-Zammit will be concentrating on the NFL’s International Player Pathway in the hope of forging a gridiron career.
His move to the United States with immediate effect has left Wales and his club Gloucester without a box-office wing, whose try-scoring ability thrilled crowds on domestic, European and international stages.
Rees-Zammit’s rugby union career comes to a halt after winning 32 Wales caps and a World Cup campaign in France when he scored five tries.
Asked if the 22-year-old would come back to rugby one day, Gatland said: “No idea. There aren’t a lot of people who make it in the NFL who haven’t been brought up with the game and played it at a young age.
“There is probably not a lot of difference with rugby league players (trying to play union). Unless you have been brought up playing union, some are able to make it, but very few.
“So it is going to be a challenge for him, but good luck to him.
“We saw Christian Wade (ex-Wasps and England wing) do it, and if you look at rugby league, there was Jarryd Hayne from Australia who had a few games but wasn’t really able to crack it.
“Christian got quite close to doing it. He was a bit older, though. Louis sees it as an opportunity at his age, and if he doesn’t take that chance now it probably won’t come around again.
“We are disappointed to lose a talent like him, but we’ve just got to take that on the chin, move on and focus on the rest of the squad.
“The last thing I can do is dwell on losing him, because the focus has got to be on preparing the squad for the first game.”
Gatland believes that American football will see a player who is “a bit of a freak as an athlete” and someone who is still developing in the sporting arena.
“I thought he was outstanding in the World Cup,” Gatland added. “The pleasing thing for me was that he hardly missed a training session and he was playing well.
“He is probably a bit of a freak as an athlete. He is a freak physically and he gets a chance to challenge himself.
“He has obviously been a big fan (of the NFL) as a youngster and he has got a very high profile away from the game in terms of social media, so this probably helps him enhance that. I am not saying that is a negative at all.”
Another player who will not be part of Wales’ Six Nations squad is 21-year-old Exeter wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
Cardiff-born Feyi-Waboso qualifies for Wales and England, but he is believed to have been involved in a recent England alignment camp organised by head coach Steve Borthwick.
He could now be named in Borthwick’s Six Nations squad, which is announced on Wednesday.
Gatland said: “I didn’t personally speak to him. Mike Forshaw (Wales defence coach) had a conversation with him and he had expressed that he wanted to go down the English route, so good luck to him with that.
“He has definitely got some talent, there is no doubt about it. He is as green as anything.
“He has obviously had an approach from England, and he has decided to take that path.”
Eagles' Jalen Hurts downgraded to questionable vs. Seahawks due to illness
Jalen Hurts has been downgraded to questionable for the Philadelphia Eagles' game against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday due to illness.
The 2022 Pro Bowler did not practice with the rest of the team on Saturday and his condition only worsened overnight.
In a statement on their official website on Sunday, the Eagles announced Hurts will still travel to Seattle but separately from the rest of the team.
He has passed for 3,192 yards with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions this season, scoring 12 rushing touchdowns – the second-most in the NFL.
Should Hurts not recover from illness in time, Marcus Mariota – who has started 74 career regular-season games – would be in line to take his place.
The Eagles (10-3) have lost successive games, but they can win the NFC East title if they defeat the Seahawks (6-7) and win their final three games.
Seattle's Geno Smith is also doubtful due to a groin injury sustained in practice prior to last weekend's game with the San Francisco 49ers.
On this day in 2018 – Christian Wade quits rugby in bid to launch NFL career
Former England winger Christian Wade announced his retirement from rugby union at the age of 27 on this day in 2018 as he looked to launch an American football career.
Wade, the fourth highest tryscorer in English club rugby on 82, was granted early release from his Wasps contract after nine years at the club to join NFL team the Buffalo Bills.
In doing so he halved his salary from the £250,000 a year he was earning in the Gallagher Premiership. The move never took off on the field either as he failed to make the Bills’ roster.
Slough-born Wade, who won his only England cap in 2013 against Argentina, described the decision to leave rugby as the hardest in his life.
He said: “After playing nine years of professional sport for Wasps, I’ve decided to leave for personal reasons.
“I would like to thank Wasps chairman Derek Richardson and Dai (Young, director of rugby) for their support, consideration and understanding in what is the most difficult decision of my life.
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“Rugby has privileged and honoured me with so many wonderful memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life.”
Wasps were third in the Gallagher Premiership and bottom of their Heineken Champions Cup group when Wade, who as well as winning one England cap also represented the 2013 British and Irish Lions on their tour of Australia, announced he was leaving.
“It’s very disappointing to lose a player of Wadey’s quality at this stage of the season,” Young said.
“The club held numerous discussions with him to try and convince him to keep pushing forward with Wasps but in the end it was clear this is the path he wished to go down. The club nevertheless wants to wish him all the best with his future career path.”
Using the NFL’s international player pathway program to facilitate the switch, Wade made waves by scoring a 65-yard touchdown as a running back in pre-season, but a regular season game eluded him.
The experiment lasted three years and in September 2022 he returned to rugby after agreeing a deal to join French side Racing 92.
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