Cornerback Josh Norman has reportedly signed a 5 yr $75 million deal. Some considered he was the best CB in the league last year on the NFC champion Carolina Panthers. Now he comes to DC to fill a much needed hole in the secondary.  For starters, this is a lot of money for a guy who’s only had one rock solid year.  Lets take a look at his numbers (via ESPN.com):

So the numbers that jump out at me are the 2012 and 2013 stat lines.  Being a 5th round pick and starting is nice. But 2013 he was benched in favor of Captain Munnerland and UDFA Melvin White.  2014 he broke out onto the scene by Jeremy Maclin, Mike Evans, and Josh Gordon.  In 2015, QBs posted a passer rating of 54.0 when throwing to Norman (via Wikipedia.org). Surprised to learn that the player with the most passes defended last year was David Amerson (CB who the redskins cut midseason).  Norman finished the year with 18 passes defended only two more than our very own Bashaud Breeland.  Is that stat worthless? Maybe. It seems like the only real measuring stick you can have when comparing CBs.  But when a player like David Amerson tops the list and Sherman and Talib finish in the 20s,it doesn’t seem like a good statistic.

Another interesting aspect of the signing is the guarantee.  Norman is guaranteed roughly $36 million and only two years.  Therefore if he’s a complete bust this year or next the redskins can cut him and get $40 mil back over 3 years.  People are overreacting to the amount of money paid to him in a big way.  For instance, Janoris Jenkins just got a 5 year deal with the Giants for $65 mil and he was where near the player Norman was last year.  This is life with the new CBA.  The best player in FA is going to make big money.  Norman is now the highest paid CB in the league.  Lets hope he plays like it.

So what does this do to the redskins draft?  Well for starters, we are not taking a CB first round (unless Jalen Ramsey falls 20 spots). Happy that the skins saw what I did with this years crop.  By signing Norman the redskins have essentially said all the players with 1 year left on their contract are most likely gone if they don’t produce.  Here’s the list via Sportsrac.com:

There’s a handful more at the bottom but the overwhelming number of players who will be gone after 2017 are pass catchers (TEs and WRs).  TE’s Davis, Reed, Paulson are all on the chopping block in 2017.  Both our best WRs are gone too (Garcon and Jackson). That would leave the redskins with Niles Paul as your only TE and Ryan Grant and Jamison Crowder as your 1 and 2 receivers.  Niles Paul can be a starter in the NFL but Grant and Crowder are not true 1/2 receivers.  $40 mil of our cap is going to our top two WRs and QB.  The redskins would be wise to take both a QB and a WR in case we can’t afford one of the three.  All bets are off on whether it’ll be Treadwell at #21 are someone farther down the list.  All reports say the redskins are smitten with Ryan Kelly C Alabama.  The WR class this year isn’t all that great.  No true speedsters and Calvin Johnson types.  They’re all 6’4″ or smaller and roughly 4.4-4.7 speed.  Treadwell is the best receiver in the class technically but his injury history and his poor combine are red flags.  But if he turns out to be a viable #1 receiver, the redskins could save boat loads.