Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman reacts as he celebrates a play against the Arizona Cardinals. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Richard Sherman Loves This Seahawks Free Agency Signing

Originally posted on Seattle Seahawks on SI
By Jeremy Brener | Last updated Mar 17, 2026 10:00 AM ET

The Seattle Seahawks are building their team for the upcoming season, but they have had to make some difficult decisions along the way.

One of those moves was deciding whether or not to re-sign Super Bowl MVP and running back Kenneth Walker III or wide receiver and return specialist Rashid Shaheed, who the team traded for back in November from the New Orleans Saints. Ultimately, the team chose to stick with Shaheed, which earned the praise from legendary cornerback Richard Sherman.

"When you're paying a guy $17 million, you don't just use him on special teams," Sherman said on his podcast. "He's not just a returner who's changing the game in that way. I would expect his targets to look more like they did when he was in New Orleans. I would expect him to get at least two deep shots a game, just keeping the defense honest. That's what I thought would happen when he first got to Seattle.

"I thought, 'OK, they're going to keep defenses honest.'They're going to put one up just about every game. You saw it late in the season, in the NFC Championship and the Super Bowl. They did just that. If he's used correctly, this offense becomes even more difficult to stop, especially in the run game,"

.@RSherman_25 believes the @Seahawks will now be able to utilize @RashidShaheed to his full Potential #Seahawks #RashidShaheed pic.twitter.com/SdqDxtagPB
— Richard Sherman Podcast (@RShermanPodcast) March 13, 2026

Sherman Likes Shaheed Signing For Seahawks

While Shaheed's making more money on his contract compared to Walker, the positional value makes things a little different for the Seahawks. Walker is the highest-paid running back in the league with his new contract with the Chiefs, while Shaheed has 26 other wide receivers making more than him.

It's a lot of money for the Seahawks to be paying Shaheed at $17 million per year, but they feel as though he can make a difference in more than just the offense. His special teams abilities make him more valuable, and the team wants to have him as part of the core for the next couple of years while the Super Bowl window is open for the Seahawks.

The hope is that Shaheed and the Seahawks can repeat as Super Bowl champions, which is something Sherman and the famous "Legion of Boom" defense from just over a decade ago were just shy of accomplishing.