Josh Norman went from seemingly a lock as a staple in the NFL’s second best defense to the hottest free agent of this NFL offseason to a Washington Redskin all in one week.
In case you weren’t up-to-date on how NFL free agency works these days, you get to a Super Bowl, then you leave the Super Bowl team to join a shitty team for a not so shitty sum of money, and then never make the Super Bowl again.
We’ve seen it far to many times, guys either getting that ring or not, and then sitting back and watching their pocket grow faster than the L’s do on their new team’s record.
Now the Redskins aren’t a horrible team, but they’re a team that’s banking on Norman continuing his monster success as a lockdown defender in a new system, all while being quarterbacked by a guy who fans have their fingers crossed can keep up the momentum he gathered last year.
If it wasn’t for Tony Romo (and you can even add Dez Bryant into that mix) going down with an injury, Chip Kelly cutting his entire roster, and Eli Manning and the Giants’ defense blowing every 4th quarter lead they had, the Redskins would have finished dead last in the NFC East, instead of taking the division after the stars aligned like they did so last season.
With the league MVP on your sideline, some of the best ownership and front office work in the league, and a good chance at returning the Super Bowl and winning it next season, Norman left a perfect situation in Carolina for a mediocre situation in Washington; but then again can you blame the guy? Having his breakout season relatively late ay age 27, unless he keeps up his massive success, this was his only shot as getting as much money as he wanted, and we think 50 million guaranteed is more than getting it. It’s not how good you are, it’s when you are good, and for Josh Norman that came in the year before he was due to become an unrestricted free agent, and made the most of it, even if that mean;s he’ll never put a ring on it.
