After a breakout season in his contract year, Josh Norman had to make one of the most important decisions of his life.
Should he stay with his longtime agent Dave Butz or go with one of the handful of other agents who had been making big promises if he switched?
Norman eventually picked Michael George, who fired Butz. It was a decision that ultimately led to Norman's divorce in Carolina.
When the Panthers on Wednesday told George they were rescinding Norman's franchise tag, George called his client, who wasn't aware of how deep the divide was between the two sides. Norman immediately contacted the Panthers, a league source confirmed, offering to sign the franchise tender worth $13.95 million and to fire George. But it was too late. The Panthers had already filed paperwork with the league.
If Norman wanted to stay in Carolina, why couldn't he and new agent Ryan Williams, who was hired Thursday, make it happen? Well, the ship had pretty much sailed into a high-priced market.
Even though Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman on Thursday said the door wasn't closed on Norman, he would've had to accept a much smaller contract than what he'd find as a free agent.
Gettleman had been willing to consider something in the $10-$12 million a year range. The Redskins on Friday blew that out of the water, signing Norman to a five-year deal averaging $15 million per season.
The news of Norman's willingness to sign the Panthers' tender was first reported Sunday night by Mike Jones and Master Tesfatsion of The Washington Post, who also wrote that the 49ers and Rams showed some interest in trading for Norman before the Panthers pulled the plug.
The Post's piece also includes this passage:
Many on the Panthers coaching staff weren’t aware of the move either, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. They even questioned whether there was something beyond football that caused the team to move on from its top cornerback.
That's true, as well. As of Friday morning, there was still a sense that something besides money may have caused the sudden separation. That's not to say something else did, but it's a reminder that often when teams make controversial calls, it takes time to flush out all the details.
A piece of the puzzle we do know right now, though, is Norman wasn't represented well by George during this process. In what wasn't likely a coincidence, notice the wording of the first line from Gettleman's statement explaining why the tag was pulled:
"After a number of conversations with Josh’s agent we realized that a long-term deal was not attainable."
That's not to take all the responsibility away from the player, who should be at least somewhat aware of what's going on with negotiations. But right now, it appears Norman's biggest mistake — as far as staying in Carolina — was hiring who he did.