Former Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman has signed with the Washington Redskins. The Panthers rescinded Norman's franchise tag earlier this week, and the Redskins quickly swooped in to sell the All-Pro cornerback. Washington was his first visit on the free agent trail and, as it turned out, his last.
Norman's deal with Washington is for five years and $75 million. The contract includes around $36 million in guaranteed money, with the majority coming to Norman within the first three years of the deal, lessening the financial strain on Washington as he ages.
The CB now also boasts the highest annual salary ($15 million) of any CB in the league, ahead of the likes of Arizona's Patrick Peterson ($14.01 million), Seattle's Richard Sherman ($14 million) and the New York Jets' Darrelle Revis ($14.02).
"I'm looking forward to getting back to the playoffs here," Norman said. "You guys went last year. I'm looking forward to going even deeper into the playoffs and then the Super Bowl. That's our motto, that's here, that's the goal. That's the ultimate goal."
Norman said in no uncertain terms that he's looking to win "the granddaddy of them all" in D.C.
"I want to win the Super Bowl," he said. "And I'm not going to stop until I get back there. Because I know I will one day and then make the wrong a right."
Two days after hitting the open market, Norman was deciding between Washington and the New Orleans Saints.
"It came out of nowhere. It really did," he said. "I got sideswiped. I didn't see it coming."
The Redskins hosted Norman and his camp for a wooing session Friday after several players made recruiting pitches via Twitter. After the deal was struck, he posed for pictures with family members and general manager Scot McCloughan.
"When we played you guys last year, y'all was competing all the way until the bitter end. It was no let-up," Norman said. "You guys had the fight in you all. You're a playoff team. It was in the thick of things. And one piece here, one piece there, you guys can do what Carolina did when they went to the Super Bowl last year."
