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

The sudden departure of star cornerback Josh Norman 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 linchpins of the defense that 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 that Norman’s Friday visit to the nation’s capital went well, especially for his bank account:

Josh Norman has signed a 5-year contract with the #Redskins worth $75M, source said.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 22, 2016

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”:

Per source, Josh Norman’s five-year, $75 million deal has $36.5 million fully guaranteed at signing. Not far off from Darrelle Revis.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) April 23, 2016

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:

Josh Norman gets $51m over the first three years of a five-year deal that is worth $75m total. Now the highest paid CB in the NFL.

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) April 22, 2016

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). Norman’s 0.66 yards per coverage snap trailed only Arizona’s Patrick Peterson.

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, who Washington signed recently to “bolster” the secondary, two ranked outside the top …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com