Richard Sherman defended the way he negotiated his contract with the 49ers.

"It was really important to me," said Sherman, who served as his own agent. "I think that a lot of times in our league there are players that have the ability to do that and have the ability to structure their own deals and really take advantage of just being in control of their own destiny.

"There are great agents in our game that take care of our players, make sure our players are ready for life after football, their finances, whatever the case may be. And then there are some agents who negotiate a deal in 2006 and don't talk to their client again until 2010, and that's the thing we're trying to avoid and I'm trying to avoid.

"I didn't feel like I needed an agent. I felt like I knew contracts well enough and I felt like coming off the Achilles [injury], there's going to be negotiation points, there's going to be give and takes on both sides and I felt comfortable with that."

Sherman's deal could be worth as much as $39.15 million over three years, but it would effectively only pay him that much if he returns to his All-Pro form after suffering a right Achilles injury.

Sherman received a $3 million signing bonus and also has a $2 million roster bonus he will receive if he can pass a physical before Nov. 11.

"The biggest misconception is that it's a bad deal," Sherman said. "If I'm basing it just going off my last year [of the deal] in Seattle, and you compare it, I got no money guaranteed and I'm coming off a ruptured Achilles. What security do I have there? ... That's really all that I wanted. And [if] I play at the level that I'm capable of, I feel security in the upcoming years and I feel comfortable with that and I'm great with it."

Sherman believes he's been held to a double standard compared to agents who do team-friendly contracts.

"I think the thing I'm most frustrated about is all the people that were so high on bashing this deal refuse to bash the agents that do awful deals every year," Sherman said. "There are agents out there that do a $3 million fully guaranteed deal that look like $50 million deals. When a guy gets cut after two weeks or after a year and the guy only makes $5 million off a $50 million contract, nobody sits there and bashes the agent.

"... So I think that this was just one of those things where the agents feel uncomfortable with the player taking the initiative to do his own deal. That obviously puts a fire under them, it makes them more accountable for their actions because more players will do this."

Sherman said he has heard from "a lot" of players around the league who intend to negotiate their own contracts.