Richard Sherman hasn't felt this good in years.
The veteran cornerback is currently searching for his next opportunity in the NFL and believes he's closer to where he was at his peak physically than during his tenure with the 49ers.
After suffering a season-ending Achilles injury with the Seattle Seahawks in 2017, Sherman would go on to sign a three-year contract with the 49ers. Throughout his tenure with San Francisco, Sherman continued to play at a high level, despite not being at his peak physically.
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Fast forward to today, and Sherman is ready for his next opportunity, having felt his best in years.
“I’m more of the guy I was before my Achilles than I was in 2019 and 2018," Sherman told Touchdown Wire's, Doug Farrar. "That’s (because) I was able to lose the weight that I wasn’t able to lose after my Achilles. I had 15 pounds of ‘Dad Weight’ I guess it was, and I couldn’t lose it for my life. I tried to diet, I tried to starve myself, I tried to sit in the sauna all day, I tried keto, I tried every which way to lose the weight and I could never get below 207 (pounds), and before I tore my Achilles I could never get above 196 (pounds) ever in my career. I never got above 200 in my life."
Having gained the weight after suffering his Achilles injury, Sherman was unable to lose the extra pounds, which ultimately impacted his tenure with the 49ers.
"Once I got to San Francisco and got past my Achilles, I thought ‘Hey I’m at 208 but once I get to running I’ll burn that off and be back to my normal weight’ and I never got there," Sherman said. "I just had to adapt to being the weight I was. I had to adapt to being 208-209 (pounds) and it made me strain a lot more and it made me fight a lot more.
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"It made me a lot less explosive and hard to recover and harder to stop. People may say ‘Oh, that’s not that much weight,’ but it’s harder to stop at 210 when you’re used to being 195 and stopping at 195 and jumping at 195. It’s like having a 15-pound weight vest on."
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Sherman, who has received interest from the 49ers as well as other teams, has lost the weight that hampered his ability with the 49ers and is ready for the next chapter in his NFL career.
"That’s what’s been cool about this offseason, somehow the weight’s been gone," Sherman said. "I’ve been very conscious and cognizant with my diet and got the weight off, and it just feeling like (literally) a weight has been lifted and I’m more springy and more dynamic and able to run longer and move faster without feeling the fatigue and the sluggishness I felt with that kind of weight.”