Joe Thomas calls out Richard Sherman, says 'ego' got in the way of 49ers contract

You rarely see one NFL player commenting negatively about another player’s contract. Especially when it’s between two future Hall of Famers who aren’t even teammates.

Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas has been more active than usual on Twitter this offseason, and new San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman got caught up in his analysis. Sherman, who was cut by the Seattle Seahawks last week, signed with division rival San Francisco very shortly after. The deal was reported at $39 million over three years, but Pro Football Talk’s breakdown showed that it’s more like a $21.15 million deal with $18 million in bonuses for hard-to-reach incentives. It’s a team-friendly deal with Sherman betting on himself coming off an Achilles injury, and that’s fine, but the consensus was the 49ers significantly won the deal. Sherman is his own agent, which added to the story.

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While it’s fine for pundits to point that out, you don’t see players ripping other players for deals.

Sherman replied, and handled the situation as gracefully as he could have.

It’s also possible this wasn’t one current player talking about another. Thomas has been considering retirement all offseason. As of Tuesday morning, there were no reports that Thomas had told the Browns whether or not he will play in 2018. It’s a major leap to think Thomas’ tweets about Sherman says anything about his future plans, but it would be very unusual for a player to talk about another player this way. It’s a good bet that many players would find it distasteful. Maybe Thomas is letting it fly on social media this offseason, knowing he’s done in the NFL and is practically auditioning for analyst work down the road.

At very least it was strange to see one player rip another’s contract. Both Sherman and Thomas are very likely heading to the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday, and the annual meet-ups in Canton down the road might be a little uncomfortable.

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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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