Sheldon Richardson: I turned down a $4M to $5M contract from the Seahawks

Before he signed with a one-year, $8M deal with the Vikings in March, defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson received a $4M to $5M offer to stay with the Seahawks, as he explained to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. 

“The contract they offered me was terrible. It wasn’t what they told me when I left after the exit meetings,” Richardson said. “When my agent told me the offer, I told him, ‘They can keep that.’” 

Richardson has excelled for Minnesota this season: Pro Football Focus currently grades him as the league’s No. 36 interior defender, while Richardson is tied for sixth among defensive tackles with 14 quarterback hits. Given that he only inked a one-year pact, Richardson will be able to hit the free agent market again in 2019 at the age of 28.

Here’s more from the NFL’s two West divisions:

• In her first comments to the media after Reuben Foster was arrested on domestic violence charges in Tampa last month in an interview with "Good Morning America," Foster’s ex-girlfriend Elissa Ennis indicated the 49ers attempted to intervene during Foster’s arrest, saying: "I have pictures of the 49ers coming up there, trying to talk to the police and say I'm the same ex-girlfriend that sit up there and lied." The club has issued a statement, via ESPN.com: “The 49ers fully cooperated with authorities, assisted in locating Mr. Foster and in no way impeded their investigation,” said the team. San Francisco immediately waived Foster following the arrest, but he was claimed by Washington. Tampa Police are still reviewing the case against Foster, but an arraignment is tentatively scheduled for January 3, according to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area.
• The Broncos lost one of their most important offensive players in Emmanuel Sanders on Wednesday, but they did get a little lucky in acquiring fellow receiver Andre Holmes off waivers from the Bills, as Mike Klis of 9News explains. Sanders went down with a torn Achilles at 12:06 p.m. MT, and Denver’s doctors had diagnosed him 14 minutes later. When practice ended at 1:20 p.m., Broncos offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave relayed to the club’s personnel department that he had coached Holmes while the two were in Oakland. Five minutes before the waiver deadline, the Broncos put in a claim on Holmes.
• Austin Reiter‘s two-year extension with the Chiefs has a maximum value of $5.5M, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Reiter, a reserve offensive lineman, will receive a $1M signing bonus that, as Joel Corry of CBSSports.com notes, will prorate over three seasons given that Reiter signed his new deal before the close of the 2018 campaign. Reiter, 27, was projected to become a restricted free agent next spring, but he’ll now get a little more financial security instead of a non-guaranteed RFA tag. He started four games at center for Kansas City earlier this year while Mitch Morse was injured.
• Seahawks guard D.J. Fluker is expected to miss several weeks with a hamstring strain, head coach Pete Carroll told reporters, including Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. Fluker, who inked a one-year, $1.5M deal with Seattle this year, hasn’t played very well during his first season in the Pacific Northwest, as PFF grades him as a bottom-15 guard among 79 qualifiers. Former undrafted free agent Jordan Simmons will take over at right guard for the time being.