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Josh Norman calls Panthers release 'a freaking gut punch'
When the Carolina Panthers announced last month that they had rescinded the franchise tag on All-Pro cornerback Josh Norman, thus making him a free agent, it took everyone by surprise.
Including Norman.
In an interview with The MMQB, Norman, who has since signed a five-year, $75 million deal with Washington that includes $50 million guaranteed, shared his reaction.
“Don’t they know how bad I want to be here?” Norman asked. “Couldn’t they have given me warning?” He says he dialed [owner Jerry] Richardson’s number seeking clarity. He called his coaches. He then called [general manager Dave] Gettleman, and said he was willing to sign the tender. According to Norman, Gettleman told the player that the paperwork had already been filed.
“The GM?” Norman says of Gettleman. “He has no ties to me. He didn’t bring me in. I had been there five years, busting my tail, giving it everything I had. I was blue-collar to the core. And they talk so much about this being a family deal—well, dang, you could have at least let me know. You want to be a family, but honestly, is this a family way of doing things?”
The Panthers declined to comment for the story.
Norman's mother, Sandra, and two of his brothers arrived at his offseason home in Atlanta shortly after he got the news. Sandra Norman said Josh laid on the floor in his room for 90 minutes, motionless, and didn't eat for nearly 24 hours.
He played the FIFA video game with his brothers for a bit, which Josh said calmed his nerves for a bit, but when the game ended, "it just sucked some more. This was a freaking gut punch."
But the next day, a package arrived: a burgandy-and-gold No. 24 jersey from Washington. Not long after, Norman signed his lucrative deal with the club, after hearing from literally half the teams in the league, according to reporter Emily Kaplan.
And according to Norman, at least some offered him more than Washington.
The story, which details the entire process for Norman and follows him on a tour through the Capitol building in his new city, is worth the read.