Dave Gettleman, Ron Rivera Comment on Rescinding Josh Norman's Franchise Tag

Carolina Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman and head coach Ron Rivera spoke about cornerback Josh Norman, a day after the team rescinded the superstar's franchise tag, allowing him to become a free agent.

"I don't subscribe to the one player away theory because football is the ultimate team game," Gettleman said to open the press conference, per the team.

He added, per Max Henson of the team's website, that the Panthers were "Just too far apart in speaking with Norman's agent. One-year franchise tag became less and less attractive."

Gettleman also spoke about the team's culture:

It's hard not to draw some conclusions based on that quote. The subtext suggests that perhaps Norman, 28,  wouldn't have been all-in with the Panthers, as the two sides weren't close to coming to an agreement on a long-term contract extension. There were reports Norman could hold out through training camp while the sides negotiated a new deal and that he wouldn't sign the franchise tender, with the Charlotte Observer's Joseph Person among them.

Nonetheless, Gettleman maintained the decision was simply about business.

"This is a business decision, folks," he said, per Henson. "No doors have been shut with Josh. We respect Josh."

Bryan Strickland of the team's site added more on any potential future for Norman in Carolina:

Of course, it's pretty hard to imagine Norman returning to the Panthers after having his franchise tag rescinded and becoming a free agent this late in the offseason.

Rivera, meanwhile, supported Gettleman's decision.

"Dave has made a lot of decisions that have proven to be the best for us," he said, per Strickland. "I'm going to trust him on this, too."

He did acknowledge that cornerback is now a need position, however, according to Henson:

And Norman's release certainly freed up quite a bit of cap space—and opened up a lot of possibilities for the Panthers, by proxy—per Person:

One player who may see a large chunk of that change is defensive tackle Kawann Short, who is in line for a long-term contract extension with the team and won't come cheap. Ditto for defensive tackle Star Lotulelei.

The move also reinforced Gettleman's philosophy of building a defense around a dominant defensive line. He supported that notion once again with his comments on Thursday, per Strickland:

Nonetheless, losing arguably the NFL's top cornerback in 2015 won't be easy to overcome. While there is a pretty good crop of corners in this year's draft, none will have the immediate impact Norman would have provided. 

And Gettleman maintained the team would take "the best player available" at this year's NFL draft, making it highly unlikely that it will reach for a cornerback simply to fill a need.

Norman, meanwhile, will have his pick of lucrative offers to choose from after notching 56 tackles, four interceptions and three forced fumbles in 2015. It's very likely he'll get the type of money on the open market that the Panthers simply weren't going to offer him in a long-term deal.

Whether that decision was the correct one or not for the Panthers won't be evident until the team begins its quest to return to the Super Bowl in 2016.

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