Will Richard Sherman take more unnecessary shots at Patriots, this time at Media Day?

CHANDLER, Ariz. – Until Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks had the pole position to Super Bowl perfection. Softball questions … focused practices … and only mild curiosity from the national media. In every possible way, this was coaching bliss.

No drama. No controversy. Nowhere near the New England Patriots' mess.

Enter the Godfather of Gab, cornerback Richard Sherman, and his Trash Talking Consigliere, wideout Doug Baldwin. Two guys who had no reason to climb into someone else's fight, but did it anyway. And not by taking a shot at Patriots coach Bill Belichick, the accepted mark for deflate-gate – or even quarterback Tom Brady, whose mouthy history makes him fair game.

No, Sherman decided to go after the integrity of Robert Kraft, the Patriots' affable owner who has been called many things, virtually none of them controversial. He's not the NFL owner with the party bus. Or the one who got pulled over with bricks of cash and a grocery bag of pills. He's not even the owner who refuses to consider changing the name of his franchise, no matter how many people it diminishes.

Kraft is the paper billionaire. The guy who got his Super Bowl ring jacked by Russian president Vladimir Putin and said let it slide. A celebrated philanthropist who spent 48 years with his wife Myra, then pressed his fraternity of billionaire owners to donate to cancer research when she passed away from the disease.

The guy who, according to Sherman, apparently lacks integrity. The guy who protects the Patriots' through any misdeeds by leaning on commissioner Roger Goodell.

"I think perception is reality," Sherman said of the Patriots being line-pushers when it comes to NFL rules. "It is what it is. Their résumé speaks for itself. You talk about getting close to the line, this and that. I don't really have a comment about that. Their past is what their past is. Their present is what their present is. Will they be punished? Probably not. Not as long as Robert Kraft and Roger Goodell are still taking pictures at their respective homes. [Goodell] was just at Kraft's house last week before the AFC championship. Talk about conflict of interest. As long as that happens, [the deflating controversy] won't affect them at all.”

And Baldwin?

"Richard Sherman is probably one of the most intelligent football players in the league if not one of the most intelligent people in the world," Baldwin said. "That was a shout-out to Richard Sherman, if you all didn't know. Obviously it has some validity. You would have to discuss it more with him. I don't want to touch on the subject because I think that is a subject that he wants to expose a little more."

Don't skip past that last line: "He wants to expose it a little more." That sounds like a plan pointing to Tuesday's Media Day, when Sherman will have nothing but time to wade deeper into a Patriots mess that has nothing to do with Seattle. Nothing but time to tweak the Patriots and draw the attention of a wounded franchise.

Why? Why insert yourself into the New England circus? It's one giant elephant cage and the only way in or out is with a shovel. And Sherman grabbed a scoop. A few more appear to be on the way Tuesday.

This was a New England vs. the NFL fight. Or maybe New England vs. Baltimore. Seattle had no place in it. Particularly when the Patriots are feeling attacked and wounded, looking for a place to turn out their frustration. A team that was so agitated on Monday, that Kraft himself blasted the NFL and demanded an apology if (when?) the NFL investigation fails to convict on deflate-gate.

This isn't a matter of whether Sherman was right. The reality is that Goodell has been in the homes of many NFL owners. And skyboxes. And golf foursomes. He's the commissioner of a league of billionaires, spending personal time with them is part of the job. And if he's pressing Goodell for any agenda, it only makes him like every other owner in the league: a guy looking out for his interests.

If Sherman thinks that makes Kraft a de-facto cheater, a guy who uses influence as a never-ending get-out-of-jail-free card, well, it's a free country. As multiple Patriots players said of Sherman's comments Monday, people are entitled to their opinions.

But this was an unnecessary poke, almost as if Sherman couldn't resist inserting himself into the mix. And it was at a guy who, by all accounts, really hasn't been proven to be one of the league's classic dastards. Patriots players actually care about Kraft. And what Sherman said is the kind of stuff that plays inside a locker room. The kind of stuff that is the sweetest ammunition to Belichick and his coaching staff: "They're not just disrespecting you or me, they're going after Mr. Kraft."

Again, the same question: Why go there? Why not let the Patriots focus their negative energy on the media and NFL, and let the Seahawks take an emotional backseat. It's a question Seahawks coach Pete Carroll had to be asking on Monday.

"Richard has an outlook that Richard owns," Carroll said. "And he had an opinion about something. I don't think he knows the commissioner and Mr. Kraft very well. I don't think they have a long-standing relationship. But he has an opinion and he expressed it. … Whether I talk to him or not, he's still going to have his opinion. And we actually talk about most everything that is spoken, eventually that'll come up. We won't share with you how that comes out and all, but we will talk about stuff. We always have."

In the end, maybe it won't matter. Maybe the Patriots will be undone by Seattle, and Sherman will do what he always does: talk, walk and get ready to do it all over again. But the opportunity has presented itself. A new, more relevant target has stepped into New England's mess. And that's officially the first mistake a Seahawk has made this week.