Officially an unrestriced free agent. Panther rescinded the franchise tag today. Assuming there aren't any unforeseen legal or health issues...I say you give him the money ans sign him immediately. He solves a LOT of problems in the secondary, and is in his prime.
This was basically them saying he was looking for waaaaaaaaaaay too much money. Id love to see the contract he signs from some desperate team.
Trade Wake for a kicking tee to make room for him if you have to. Norman and Jones in the secondary makes for a scary defensive backfield. It also allows us to "double down" with a rookie in the draft, or seek improvements elsewhere. Honestly, Norman changes the overall talent level of this team a TON.
For the first time ever, I am praying Stephen Ross and his desire for flash and free will to spend comes through! We ABSOLUTELY can afford him. Trade Wake and use the excess salary. Trust me - the corners in this year's draft are not very good. There are TONS of defensive ends.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolp...sh-norman-cant-eliminate-the-possibility.html In summary it doesnt look good.
Its not up to him .Its the cap limitations of the team .However the FO may come up with some voodoo economics to make it possible.Its been done before .
I would love to get Norman, but he is looking for a long term deal that pays him over 16 mil per with over 40 mil in fully guaranteed money, we have around 12 mil in cap space according to spotrac and OTC, half of that is for rookies, so we have 6 mil effectively to play with. Cutting or trading Wake frees up another 8.4 mil, giving them 14 mil to use, but a few mil always has to be kept on the side in case of injury, so lets say they have 10 mil for him this year, the deal is doable with some backloading a la Suh. It really depends on what he's actually looking for, is it 20 mil per with 70 mil guaranteed? Who knows, obviously it's a lot, because the Panthers just let one of the best CBs walk... let me say that again, the Panthers just let one of the best CBs walk, why? The only reasons are bad ones, monster contract is the most likely, lets say QB17 is retained after this year, that would mean that Suh, Norman and QB17 would count for 60 to 70 mil in 2017 and beyond, you can't run a team effectively with 3 out of the 53 players making over a 3rd of the money available. I don't think signing him is feasible, I would rather pay him the money than Suh, but things are how they are.
There are some who think that was a bad deal, without even factoring Norman (which IMO would be another bad deal).
Serious question. When's the last time a zone corner, signed else where and turned out to be good? nnamdi asomugha anyone? Only corners that tend to continue to be good where ever they go are man corners. It's tough for a strictly cover 2 corner to all the sudden go elsewhere. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
AH Man see this is exactly what I am talking about - you had to go and say that - now that means we are going to give him 120m - 5yr contact
Would be sick but Pass on that price tag, esp if it makes getting rid of Wake a necessity. No thanks.
Wha-wha-what?!?! How many years does Wake have left? How many years does Norman have left? Time to use our heads not our hearts.
If you look at our cap situation we could ABSOLUTELY afford him. Wake would probably have to go, but this deal is 100% doable.
I read comments saying he's not a press corner. I don't know anything about his game. Looks like we're pursuing anyway. 16 million dollars seems crazy to pay anyone. However, if he is a fit and it means getting a coveted piece to our secondary, then Wake and Dion are likely afterthoughts.
In that case, any team could afford him if they just dumped some of their players. It's about being flexible down the line as well.
Another downside is that we may have to give the Panthers a 3rd for Norman as a compensatory draft pick.
Is that how comp picks work? I don't think they are taken from a team and given to another or maybe I'm wrong?
Ppl around here in Charlotte are fine with letting him walk.. He hasn't been a problem but 16 mil a year is too much for a guy who is a product of the system.. He isn't a shut down corner, he thrives in the zone Carolina runs and benefits from carolinas pass rush and exceptional lb play
Lol. I'm using my head. Inquiring about JN is simply due diligence from the phins. I would dare to say anyone who thinks Wake will not continue to produce for us is not exactly using their head. The guy is good. I already said it'd be sick if we grabbed him, but I'm not cool with competing with someone like the jags who have a cruise ship full of money to spend on defense, only to pay some kind of Vernon-ridiculous-stupid contract for him with all the holes we have. In addition to that - I am in no way down with getting rid of Wake for NOTHING on top of paying Norman that cruise ship. I'm just not. If they REALLY wanted JN they could feasibly get him and keep Wake as well, the two are not mutually exclusive. Wake deserves a lot more respect than he is getting. He is a HELLUVA lot more valuable to this team than he is on a trade block.
The stark reality though, we may be losing Wake for nothing anyway, the fat lady is all dressed up, got her make up on, and now the jewelry just has to be put on, she is about to sing, if Wake isn't Wake, he will be getting cut, you don't pay a player 10 mil for old times sake.
We are losing him for absolutely nothing if we trade him right now. THAT is the stark reality. His value for us is a lot higher than it is on any kind of block, and even moreso after Vernon left. Show me where I advocated keeping someone who doesn't pull their own weight or produce? I've said several times i'm all-but guaranteeing the guy will still continue to produce at a high level like he pretty much always has. You pay a premium for elite pass rushing talent - which he is - and we have gotten by on paying him next to nothing up until this point relative to his production since 09. Draft someone to groom behind him?* Sure.* But they need to be extending this guy, not dropping him for nothing just to back up a Vernon-sized truck of money to Josh Norman.* If he doesn't do much of anything this year, then it is what it is and I can agree maybe his best years are behind him and we can move on. Just don't see it. Our only constant producer on this team for the last 7/8 years, our only locker room leader, and we're just going to cut him when he finally gets to the payout years of his contract that he 150% deserves? I understand business moves, but this is different. What kind of message does that send to players (current or prospective)? * A very fins-esque message I guess. Par for the course with this team.
While adding Norman would be great for us IMO, I think it's also important to consider why Carolina rescinded the tag. Could be as simple as they are too far apart on demands, but lets not forget it could also be Carolina saying, ok, we're far apart. We will rescind the tag, go get some offers on the market, come on back with them and lets talk. Sure that's risky for Carolina given the cap space available for some desperate teams, but Carolina has Super Bowl contender going for them still, the teams loaded with cap space don't.
