The Seattle Seahawks want a cornerback in the 2026 NFL draft. The team needs one even after re-signing Josh Jobe, as fellow free agent Riq Woolen signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. Could the team choose Brandon Cisse early in the 2026 draft? Maybe, and Richard Sherman recently exposed another reason why.
Cisse was a guest on Sherman's eponymous podcast recently, and the South Carolina product was asked about his ties to likely future Pro Football Hall of Famer Stephon Gilmore. Gilmore, you see, also played with the Gamecocks, just as Seattle's 2025 selection, Nick Emmanwori, did.
12s already know that Cisse and Emmanwori have talked this offseason, though the two never overlapped in college. The safety was drafted last year, and the cornerback only played one season for South Carolina, which was last season. Still, the connection is a true throughline, just as Gilmore and Cisse's connection is.
Seattle Seahawks legend Richard Sherman just helped make the connection between Brandon Cisse and greatness
Sherman said to Cisse, "So Gilly (Gilmore) is one of your mentors...former Defensive Player of the Year, good friend of mine, talk about your relationship to him and what he's done to help you and mentor you..."
The younger cornerback answered, "(Gilmore is) like my older brother, my best friend. If you go through our threads, probably like 250, 300 videos of just us and stuff back and forth...we see the game the same way."
The key to all of that is that if general manager John Schneider chooses to take Brandon Cisse in the first round at pick 32, or if Seattle trades back into the early part of the second round, Seattle should expect to get a cornerback who is prepared to play immediately, not only through his own experience, but the mentorship of others who were great.
Gilmore played 13 years in the NFL and was twice named First-Team All-Pro. He made the Pro Bowl five times. He is almost certainly going to be a Hall of Famer eventually, but not only because of his physical skills, but also because of his high football IQ.
If he can impart some of that to Cisse, the younger South Carolina product is going to have a step up over other rookies at his position. Could he be a Week 1 starter for the Seattle Seahawks and a long-term impact player? No one can say for sure, but he would at least be mentally prepared to be.
Cisse does have the skill set to be a Mike Macdonald-type cornerback. He is 6-feet and 190 pounds, so he could gain a bit more weight, and while he was quite good in coverage (only allowing three touchdown passes in his college career), he is elite at setting an edge against the run. The latter will get him played sooner in Seattle.
Beyond Stephon Gilmore, one can be sure that Richard Sherman would be happy to help Brandon Cisse succeed quickly with the Seahawks. That is what makes the culture of the organization great, and Gilmore might be, even accidentally, part of the fold soon by his relationship with Cisse.
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