Richard Sherman and Josh Norman, never afraid to speak out, are blasting the new NFL rule that will penalize a defender 15 yards for lowering a helmet into an offensive player.

"It's ridiculous," Sherman told USA Today. "Like telling a driver if you touch the lane lines, you're getting a ticket. [It's] gonna lead to more lower-extremity injuries."

Roger Goodell promised Wednesday that the league will spend the offseason educating players on how the new rule will be enforced.

"I don't know how you're going to play the game," Norman said. "If your helmet comes in contact? How are you going to avoid that if you're in the trenches and hit a running back, facemask to facemask and accidentally graze the helmet? It's obviously going to happen. So, I don't know even what that definition looks like."

While Kyle Shanahan always held a high opinion of Jimmy Garoppolo, he preferred the 49ers' plan of pursuing Kirk Cousins.

Shanahan worked with Cousins when he was an assistant coach with Washington.

"For Kyle, I think the thing I would tell people," Lynch shared, "is we made the trade and then there were some days that Kyle Shanahan was like in mourning, because I think everybody knows his master plan was to have Kirk Cousins come in eventually.

"I was proud of Kyle. Because I think he knew that this was the right thing for our franchise, and he didn't hesitate. But even then Jimmy had to really prove himself. I think it was really smart. [Kyle] didn't play him right away. He waited until he had some semblance of an understanding of our scheme when he did put him in. And he put him in in a position to succeed. And then I would tell you that Jimmy really impressed Kyle, to the point that he said, This is our guy."

Shanahan acknowledged to The MMQB's Albert Breer that the specter of Cousins hung over Garoppolo's early days in San Francisco.

"Yeah, of course, it was there," Shanahan said. "Everyone knows how I feel about Kirk. And for anybody who knows how I feel about Kirk, I think this shows how I feel about Jimmy, the fact that we ended up doing this. I'm not a guy who's going to get excited and just go with the momentum, at all. I usually do the opposite, question it to make sure I'm absolutely confident, and not go with the momentum or the excitement.

"Talking about Kirk, understanding where he could be in the next year, for me to feel this way about Jimmy? It says a lot about Jimmy."

Cousins signed with the Vikings this offseason after Washington traded for Alex Smith.

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.

Richard Sherman suggested Pete Carroll's culture might be better suited for college football than the NFL.

“A lot of us have been there six, seven, eight years, and his philosophy is more built for college. Four years, guys rotate in, rotate out, and so we had kind of heard all his stories," said Sherman on the ThomaHawk podcast. "We had kind of heard every story, every funny anecdote that he had. And honestly because he just recycles them.”

Sherman was released by the Seahawks this month and signed with the 49ers.

The Miami Dolphins have acquired center Daniel Kilgore from the San Francisco 49ers after Mike Pouncey asked for his release.

San Francisco will send Kilgore and a 2018 second round pick to Miami for the 2018 seventh round pick.

The Dolphins will accomodate Pouncey's request.

Kilgore re-signed with the 49ers earlier this offseason on a three-year contract. The 49ers signed center Weston Richburg in free agency this week and he likely will replace Kilgore at the position for the 49ers.

Jerick McKinnon has agreed to terms on a four-year, $30 million contract with the San Francisco 49ers.

The 49ers were looking for a running back after Carlos Hyde agreed to terms with the Cleveland Browns.

McKinnon ran for 570 yards and caught 51 passes for 421 yards last season with the Minnesota Vikings.

In addition to the New England Patriots, seven teams are believed to have interest in signing Dion Lewis.

According to a source, the Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, New York Giants, New York Jets, Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers are all interested in Lewis.

Jerick McKinnon is expected to be a fallback option for teams that miss on Lewis.

Richard Sherman has agreed upon a three-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers worth as much as $39.15 million. The deal is heavy in incentives as Sherman returns from a torn Achilles.

"I'm thankful to John [Lynch, 49ers GM] and Kyle [Shanahan, 49ers coach] for believing in me," Sherman told Josina Anderson. "Some smaller details still getting ironed out, but #ShermInTheBay."

Sherman was released by the Seahawks on Friday.

Sherman played collegiately at Stanford.

Richard Sherman is scheduled to meet with the San Francisco 49ers in free agency.

The Seattle Seahawks released Sherman on Friday.

The 49ers will work to sign Sherman to a contract if he's healing from his torn Achilles in one leg and a bone spur in the other.

Sherman will begin running on a treadmill next week.

The Titans, Lions, Raiders, Texans, Buccaneers and Packers have also expressed interest in Sherman.

Sherman made it abundantly clear that he wants "to go to a contender." 

The San Francisco 49ers have agreed to a three-year contract extension with Marquise Goodwin.

The new deal is worth $20.3 million and includes $10 million in guaranteed money, according to a source.

He is now under contract through the 2021 season.

"I definitely feel like this offense is good for me in the sense that it allows me to be a football player," Goodwin said. "It gives me an opportunity to be out there and make plays, and that's what you would want in a scheme and a system. It's not just targeting me. Everybody gets to shine. That's what's good about this offense. It's not just a one-man wrecking crew, not one guy just making it happen. It's a lot of guys getting an opportunity to make plays."