SANTA CLARA, Calif.

A day after the San Francisco 49ers elected Richard Sherman as their player representative, the veteran cornerback believes a lockout is coming when the NFL collective bargaining agreement expires.

“It’s going to happen, so it’s not like guys are guessing,” Sherman said before the 49ers’ workout Thursday.

The current CBA between players and NFL owners doesn’t expire until after the 2020 season, but there have been rumblings that players might dig in their heels in order to get certain economic changes, including more guaranteed money in contracts.

Owners locked out the players for four months during the 2011 offseason, but the sides eventually hammered out a 10-year deal before the regular season was jeopardized.

That issue is for down the road. For now, the three-time All-Pro cornerback eagerly awaits his 49ers debut Sunday at Minnesota. After being released by Seattle in March, Sherman, 30, signed a threeyear deal with San Francisco.

He appears fully recovered from a ruptured right Achilles tendon that ended his 2017 season in November. But Sunday’s game offers Sherman his first true test to prove he’s still the same shutdown defender he was before the injury. And the opener comes against a Vikings team that expects big things offensively after signing quarterback Kirk Cousins in the offseason.

Asked if this week of preparation feels different given his new surroundings, Sherman replied:

“I got my Kobe cleats.”

Nike has a line of football cleats endorsed by former Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, a friend of Sherman’s who offered the cornerback advice on how to rehab from an Achilles injury, since Bryant experienced the same setback.