Josh Norman Gets Deal He Wanted, Finds Perfect Fit in Washington

Star cornerback Josh Norman's sudden departure from the Carolina Panthers a few days ago caught fans and pundits completely off guard. After all, it isn’t every day that a Super Bowl team cuts bait on one of the defensive linchpins who helped it get there.

Well, while the Panthers may not have been willing to make Norman the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback, it turns out another team was. On Friday, Norman found his new home and his fat payday, while the Washington Redskins filled the biggest hole in their defense in an even bigger way.

Ian Rapoport of NFL.com was among the first to report Norman’s Friday visit to the nation’s capital went well, especially for his bank account:

Colleague Albert Breer had the lowdown on the fully guaranteed portion of the contract or as we call it in the NFL, "all that really matters":

According to Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports, the contract is also front-loaded in a manner that will net the 28-year-old quite the windfall over the first three years of the five-year pact:

It also netted the Redskins one of the NFL’s best cover cornerbacks—at least where 2015 is concerned.

Norman, who tallied 56 tackles, four interceptions and three forced fumbles en route to being named a first-team All-Pro in 2015, finished last season ranked sixth among cornerbacks, per Pro Football Focus. No cornerback in the NFL allowed a lower passer rating against (54.0). Also per PFF, Norman’s 0.66 yards-per-coverage snap trailed only Arizona’s Patrick Peterson.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

And those are all numbers the Redskins badly needed. While a Norman-led secondary in Carolina was the NFL’s best defense in coverage in 2015, according to PFF, the Redskins were the league’s fifth-worst. Youngster Bashaud Breeland was the only Redskins cornerback who ranked inside the top 65 at his position a year ago.

If you count Greg Toler, whom Washington signed recently to “bolster” the secondary, two ranked outside the top 100, as 2015 acquisition Chris Culliver was an unmitigated disaster in his first season in D.C.

Those deficiencies were plainly evident in January’s Wild Card Round waxing at the hands of the Green Bay Packers.

For the Redskins, this was like asking for a go-kart for Christmas and receiving a ’67 Chevelle instead—a free-agent prize as staggering as it was unexpected.

And as ESPN.com’s John Keim points out, Norman also fits Washington defensive coordinator Joe Barry’s scheme like a glove:

"

Norman reached a different level in his career last season and will be paid because of it; one coach said this morning that he’s a legitimate top-four corner. He has size (6-foot) and long arms, both attributes [GM Scot] McCloughan wants in a corner if at all possible. Of course, many teams want such traits.

Norman also fits what the Redskins do under defensive coordinator Joe Barry. Norman played a lot of zone in Carolina; the Redskins use a lot of zone under Barry. It’s hard to say Norman is just a product of the scheme when we haven’t seen him in others. But it’s not hard to say he’s a really good corner.

"

This may have been an unexpected bonanza for the Redskins, but it’s exactly the bonanza Norman wanted. He made it no secret that it was his goal to become one of the NFL’s highest-paid cornerbacks this spring, per the Charlotte Observer's Joseph Person. And now Norman’s wish has been granted.

Player	Team	Age	AAS	G$	PFF Rank*
J. Norman	WAS	28	$15M	$36.5M	6
D. Revis	NYJ	30	$14.02M	$39M	30
P. Peterson	ARZ	25	$14.01M	$47.37M	6
R. Sherman	SEA	28	$14M	$40M	4
T. Johnson	LAR	26	$13.95M	$13.95M	20

It just wasn’t granted where he thought it would be.

Instead of facing off against Drew Brees and Matt Ryan, Norman will now go up against Tony Romo and Eli Manning.

And you know what that means—Norman and Odell Beckham Jr.…twice. Norman and Dez Bryant…twice.

Here’s Norman, per Jake Kring-Schreifels of the team’s website, on ODB after their much-publicized personal foul-a-palooza in December.

"The man came 15 yards down the field and just went straight for my head. He was doing it the whole game," he said. "It goes to show you man, I don't know how many yards that man had, but you go back to the film and watch it…And it goes to show you who and what he is."

And Norman on Bryant after their Thanksgiving tilt in Dallas, per ESPN.com's David Newton: "He shouldn't have ticked off my DBs in pregame. That took me to a whole other place. Once that happened, you can't get me fired up [enough]. I'm telling you, I'm going to be at your throat for four quarters every time."

Think either receiver has forgotten? Me neither.

Oh, and the Redskins host the Panthers on December 19. Merry Christmas!

Is there risk involved in this deal? Absolutely. According to Over the Cap, Washington entered the day with just under $12 million in cap room. Norman’s deal pays $15 million a season. I’ll let you do the math.

McCloughan is going to have to get creative cap-wise with the draft just around the corner.

And the deal that put the Redskins in the red is a front-loaded whopper with a lot of guaranteed coin. You can only get so creative with that—and it’s the sort of deal that could blow up in the team’s face.

The fact is, there’s a reason why the Panthers balked at handing Norman this deal. He’ll be 29 before the season ends, and while 2015 was a stellar season, it was one year.

In a way, it was both a departure and business as usual for the Redskins. This was the team, after all, that gave Albert Haynesworth possibly the worst free-agent deal ever. That mortgaged its entire future to move up in the 2012 draft and select Robert Griffin III.

The former was a catastrophe. The latter fell apart after one transcendent year and a trip to the playoffs. Since then, the Redskins have been a bit more cautious in their approach to personnel—an approach that appeared to be paying dividends.

That approach changed in a hurry this week. McCloughan saw a chance not only to improve the weak point in Washington's defense but to also improve it by leaps and bounds—in a manner that’s unheard of this late in free agency.

I’ll wager McCloughan saw something else too. Something that spurred him to give Norman the megadeal he sought. The deal Carolina was unwilling to sign off on.

McCloughan looked out his window on Redskin Park Drive and saw what the Panthers had. What every team in the NFL wants.

McCloughan looked out the window and saw Houston and Super Bowl LI.

And he and the Redskins just bet the farm that Norman can help them get there.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPSharks.