The Washington Redskins have been relying on Josh Norman to live up to his All-Pro hype for the past few seasons. After signing him to what was then a record five-year, $75 million deal back in April of 2016, Norman has been an absolute bust.
How bad has he been? The high-priced cornerback was benched at times during Monday night’s blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints. It led to a war of words between Norman and Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas following the game.
If we are going to take these two players and look at them in terms of their on-field production, Norman himself might just want to tone down the rhetoric.
According to Pro Football Focus, the 30-year-old cornerback has yielded an absolutely absurd 156.3 passer rating when targeted in coverage this season.
Per @pff, Josh Norman is allowing a 156.3 passer rating in coverage. A perfect passer rating is 158.3. #HTTR
— Neil Greenberg (@ngreenberg) October 9, 2018
That’s not even worthless. It’s almost like the Skins would be better off playing with 10 men on the field. At the very least, the decision to bench him during Monday’s humiliating performance tells us a story of a coaching staff that’s not happy with the former Carolina Panthers star.
As has been the case in D.C. during owner Daniel Snyder’s tenure, Norman represented a massive overpay on the free agent market. He’s counting an absurd $16.74 million against the cap this season.
To put that into perspective, fellow former Pro Bowler Richard Sherman is counting $6.2 million against the 49ers’ cap this season. He’s allowed a grand total of one catch in four games.
As some things change around the NFL, other things remain the same. Norman is a free agent bust. The Redskins are stuck with him and his mouth.
Good times in the nation’s capital, indeed.