Josh Norman: ‘I got sideswiped’ by Panthers’ decision to remove franchise tag
The Carolina Panthers’ abrupt decision to rescind Josh Norman’s franchise tag caught many by surprise, including Norman himself.
The newly-minted Washington cornerback admitted Friday on “Redskins Nation” that his old organization “sideswiped” him with the move.
“It came out of nowhere. It really did,” Norman said, via Stephen Czarda of the team’s official website. “I got sideswiped – I didn’t see it coming.”
Norman also noted how quickly Washington’s pitch came together, with team president Bruce Allen contacting him almost immediately to register his interest.
“When [the franchise tag was rescinded] it was crazy because Mr. Bruce (Allen), the President, hit [me] up right away with a jersey, No. 24,” Norman said. “And the crazy thing is I didn’t see it until a day and a half later because I was still getting over the fact of what was going on. Being somewhere 28 years all your life and just in a blink of an eye, gone, just like that, I’ve just never been without a job. That small amount of hours, everything went rapid and I came up here and it just felt right.”
Hard to blame Norman for feeling slightly jilted by all this. Still, he got a pretty nice payday out of it. Just to be safe, though, keep December 19 free on your calendar, because that’s the night Norman’s Redskins will be hosting Carolina.
