Discussions about the Seattle Seahawks potentially trading Richard Sherman shouldn't be labeled "fake news."
Speaking on KIRO-AM in Seattle on Wednesday, general manager John Schneider continued to fuel the idea that the Seahawks would consider moving the All-Pro corner, noting "the news is real."
"I think we're a very unique organization in that regard. We have a great relationship with a lot of our players," Schneider said, via MyNorthWest.com. "There's very much an openness. What you've seen lately in the news is real. That's on both sides. It's just open communication.
"He knows what's going on. We know what's going on. I don't know if anything would ever happen, but like I tell people all the time, 98 percent of the deals that we're involved with, we don't follow through with. But at least we've opened that door, gone down the road and seen what's behind Door A or Door B."
Schneider said that trade conversations started at the NFL Scouting Combine. The GM didn't suggest that trade talks picked up recently, but said he's had conversations with Sherman on the matter.
"Absolutely," Schneider said. "This isn't a secret like this just came out of nowhere. People find things out and we're not going to lie to each other and we're not going to BS each other. It's going to be all laid out, and like I said, that doesn't happen everywhere. We have open lines of communication between our coaching staff and our player personnel staff. It goes through player development, it goes through our sports science group. There's a lot going on there."
At the Annual League Meeting last week, coach Pete Carroll conceded teams called about possibly trading for Sherman.
The corner told KIRO-AM's Gee Scott in a statement last week that he didn't want to leave Seattle, but understood trade talks are part of the "business."
While Schneider and Carroll have repeatedly said trades involving superstar players under reasonable contracts often don't come to fruition, one thing is clear from the GM's consistent, forthright comments on the subject: Seattle is open to trading one of its cornerstones.