Twitter Abuzz Over Richard Sherman's Time With Seahawks Potentially Being Over

By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) -- It wasn't long ago that Richard Sherman was the face and voice of the feared Legion Of Boom, a defensive backfield in Seattle that looked potent and confident enough to serve as the backbone of a dynasty.

But, due largely to a most-incomprehensible Malcolm Butler goal line interception, that dynasty never came to fruition. And those days appear to be over, as the well-known and outspoken cornerback has apparently begun saying goodbye to his teammates.

It's a situation that has been hinted at by some Seahawks players and followed up on by reporters like NFL Network's Ian Rapoport:

Fellow cornerback Jeremy Lane didn't offer specifics, but said he was heartbroken.

Safety Kam Chancellor, out of the blue, thanked Sherman for coming up with his nickname.

And USA Today's Tom Pelissero then informed the world that Sherman has a meeting Wednesday with Pete Carroll and John Schneider.

Then the big dog, Adam Schefter himself, quickly got on the case.

Sherman is apparently not optimistic that the meeting will result in some sort of long-term agreement with the Seahawks. But he played coy with The MMQB's Albert Breer and ESPN's Josina Anderson:

BUT WAIT! The Facebook account for Sherman's mother seemed to confirm that Sherman is done in Seattle. (Because she said it in plain terms.)

(That is the Facebook account that is linked from MamaSherman25.com, in case you were wondering about its veracity.)

In the midst of it all, The Big Dog Schefter broke news that the Seahawks had traded defensive lineman Michael Bennett.

Whoa.

Whatever the case may be with Sherman, something is certainly up. Given the reported meeting, it would stand to reason that the Seahawks have not traded Sherman. It is possible that they are planning to cut him, as he's due to count for more than $13 million against the cap and is coming off a torn Achilles injury.

If that ends up being the case, there will likely be a number of teams interested in signing Sherman to a short-term deal that will allow the soon-to-be-30-year-old to prove he's still capable of playing corner at a high level and earn himself one last big-money deal.

It's not entirely dissimilar to the situation in which Darrelle Revis found himself in his late 20s. Revis tore his ACL early in the 2012 season. The Jets traded Revis to Tampa Bay, where he essentially rehabbed for one season before being cut and then signing with the Patriots in 2014. He won a Super Bowl and then signed a big-money contract with the Jets at age 30. He eventually fizzled out of the league, reappearing briefly in a limited role for Kansas City late last year, but he used that stage in 2014 with the Patriots to really cash in one last time in the NFL.

Might Sherman -- who's apparently open to the idea of playing for the Patriots -- follow the same path? We'll all have to wait for the next cryptic tweet in order to find out.

You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.

• National Football League
• New England Patriots
• Seattle Seahawks