Loading ...
If anyone thought that the Washington Redskins pulling out all the stops to bring cornerback Josh Norman to the nation’s capital was a classic owner Dan Snyder move, they may be right. But they would not be if they thought he was the only one that wanted the young man here.
Redskins General Manager Scot McCloughan met with the media today and, as one might expect, the acquisition of Norman was a hot discussion topic. During the presser it was apparent — several times —that the GM is just as bearish on the new defensive back as anyone in the organization. He used the term “football player” in describing the former Carolina Panther — the ultimate compliment from the scouting guru — more than once during the meeting.
“We did tape during the season,” McCloughan said when asked how prepared his department was when the opportunity to sign Norman presented itself. “The guys each have their own team and they grade everybody every year. I know him. I knew him coming out… I’ve known him since he’s been in the league. I was shocked to see what happened — how it shook out – but like I said, we’re adding a football player that we need at a position that’s very important. I’m telling you… my personal opinion [is that] he’s in the prime of his career right now. There’s a reason why he was named All-Pro last year.”
Because of some of the huge free agent signings that the Redskins have been involved with in the past have made a segment of Redskins Nation wary of any big money spent on guys not drafted by the team. Consider stories of defensive linemen Albert Haynesworth being called as 12:01 a.m. on the opening day of free agency and given upward of $100 million… recall how that ended up. There have been any number of tales of former President of Football Operations Vinny Cerrato and Snyder gassing up Redskins One (Snyder’s plane) and whisking off to wine and dine players that had already played their best football.
And of course, there is the history of Snyder and his meddling with regard to former starting quarterback Robert Griffin, III, and how he opted to keep him on the team rather than a Super Bowl-winning head coach in Mike Shanahan.
But the signing of Norman was an organizational desire and the fact that they did it big doesn’t mean it was all orchestrated by the owner. The current General Manager was almost giddy while discussing Norman today and what he brings to the team.
He’s not worried about the money either.
“It doesn’t really change,” McCloughan said when asked if spending the $75 million on Norman affected the team’s flexibility. “The thing that’s cool about it is, it gives us another good football player on the field. You can never have enough corners. Ever. And as you are well aware, I want to build through the draft. We want to build young guys. So, no, it doesn’t hold us back. You can never have enough.
“There’s injuries that happen. There’s trades that happen. Stuff like that happens. You can’t just say, ‘OK. We’re great there, let’s forget about it.’ No. I’ve been in a situation like that. All of a sudden a guy gets hurt… two guys get hurt. I’m like, ‘Son of a gun… we had that really good player that we passed on because of need.’ We’re [always] going to take a football player. And a corner? Love to. Love to.”
McCloughan named off the corners currently on the team — Bashaud Breeland, Will Blackmon, Chris Culliver — and reiterated that the NFL is a ‘pass happy’ league. The secondary has been a weakness in Washington since the loss of the late safety Sean Taylor and the move to get Norman was brilliant. He has instantly made what was coming on as a pretty decent secondary in 2015 that much better.
But even with Redskins One being involved and all of the fanfare that went into the signing, Josh Norman is going to be wearing Burgundy and gold because the general manager and the rest of the organization wanted to bring in a good football player. Not because the owner decided he wanted to make a splash.
Leave a Reply