The Carolina Panthers are in a place no team wants to be with a budding superstar: a contract stalemate. Cornerback Josh Norman still has not signed the team's franchise tag, which for his position is worth $13.95 million and he seems adamant about negotiating a long-term deal this offseason.
Additionally, Norman wants his next contract's average annual value to be greater than or equal to any other cornerback in the NFL. That is Darrelle Revis currently, who signed a frontloaded contract with the New York Jets that would pay him $16 million annually over his first three seasons.
It is no secret that Norman is ready to miss team activities such as voluntary workouts this spring and the mandatory minicamp in June. That has been his stance for some time and he is prepared to wait all the way up to the July 15 deadline to negotiate a long-term deal. The risk the Panthers run is if Norman does sign the tender and decides to walk in free agency next winter.
"I'm comfortable where I'm at. Trust and believe," Norman said earlier this month. "If I've waited this long I can wait on them some more. I got no problem waiting. Waiting got me where I need to be at the end of the day. Trust me: waiting is my specialty."
The Charlotte Observer's Joseph Person learned the Panthers and Norman are not close to a new contract in terms of both years and money. As has been the case for players in his position before him, Norman does not have time on his side. If he keeps up his holdout into Week 10 of the regular season, he will not play nor will he paid anything.
Josh Norman wanting $16M per year shouldn't be a surprise since the 1st 3 years of Darrelle Revis' contract are worth $48M.
— Joel Corry (@corryjoel) March 27, 2016
Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman does not anticipate Norman's contract situation distracting the team as it prepares to try to get back to the Super Bowl. Both sides certainly understand that staying together is the best way to do so, but Norman clearly wants job security now rather than later. Gettleman has also been keen to not rule out an extension for Norman this spring, at lest publicly.
"Josh is a pro and I don't think there'll be any issues," he said last week. "He and I had a great conversation before I put the tag on him. He understands where I'm at. I understand where he's at. We respect each other's stance and we'll just see if we can get [it] done."
