Cowboys: Dallas Should Be Wary Of Josh Norman

The Dallas Cowboys will be interested in new defensive backs for 2016, but Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman probably shouldn’t be one of them.

This piece has become much more difficult to write now that the results of Super Bowl 50 are in. I had decided that this year’s annual NFL championship display would be won by the Carolina Panthers and wasn’t even sure I would bother staying up super-late in Madrid, Spain to witness the carnage against the Denver Broncos, like I did a couple of years ago in Super Bowl XLVIII.

Perhaps now it’ll be a tad easier for the Dallas Cowboys to resist the temptation to overpay for a certain player from Carolina’s Super Bowl champion team that might be available once free agency starts next month.

To start with, the Panthers didn’t win the Super Bowl, proof that I must really underestimated Broncos outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware, who happens to be the franchise sack-leader for the Cowboys. I might have overlooked the impact to be made by one Von Miller, a true Texas A&M standout that’s reached heights that another Aggies hype-machine named Johnny Manziel will only imagine.

I did not, however, overestimate Panthers cornerback Josh Norman, a fourth year veteran that’s experienced a career-high amount of attention and hype this season.

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Norman made headlines in 2015-16 primarily for his ability to get into the heads of the wide receivers he often covered one-on-one. Norman had choice words to describe Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant following a Thanksgiving Day blowout loss to the Panthers.

A few weeks later, the well-documented brawl between Norman and New York Giants wideout Odell Beckham, Jr. scattered throughout cyberspace. Seldom has there been such a great example of on-the-field hatred between two players – this is saying a lot given the nature of football as being the most violent team sport in the world.

I am not bashful at all about my skepticism of the cornerback position in the NFL. It was one thing when great cornerbacks generally lined up against receiver that seldom stood taller than 6’3”. It was different when the rules governing contact allowed before the pass were such that smaller defensive backs could press harder and play a more physical game in the NFL.

In other words, I think that you more often create great secondaries because of the playmakers lined up in the front seven than the other way around. You’re not going to acquire a bunch of fantastic cover-corners that create a great defensive line.

Not that this has anything to do with the measures Norman takes in getting inside the heads of opposing wide receivers. Nor does it have anything to do with Norman’s pass interference penalty on 3rd and goal late in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl 50 which led to a 1st and goal and eventual touchdown that put the game away for the Broncos. Norman did far more to keep Denver quarterback Peyton Manning out of the end zone for as long as Carolina did before finally giving way to the inevitable outcome of seven Denver sacks and four turnovers created .

Carolina has a tremendous defense upfront, a unit built with the watchful eye of head coach Ron Rivera, a member of the legendary 1985 Chicago Bears defense that could all but win games by itself – the unit was arguably better in 1986 despite not reaching a second-straight Super Bowl.

My question is where was Norman before this season? Frankly, I had barely heard of the guy before this season and I think that it speaks volumes about the cornerback position itself.

Norman picked off four passes in ’15. He had a total of three pics during his previous three seasons in the NFL – he didn’t play much during his second season after having only suited up for seven games in 2013. As a fifth-round selection out of Coastal Carolina in 2012, Norman arrived in the NFL with little fanfare.

This is not to sell Norman short in any way, but rather to point out that this cornerback from a small school that’s only had a football program since 2003 was only able to reach the spotlight after two things happened.

First off, Norman needed experience, which is to be expected, yet it’s not unheard of for a blue-chip prospect to enter the NFL fully capable of covering many top wide receivers immediately.

Second, Norman needed the pressure that guys like Kony Ealy, Charles Johnson and Jared Allen are capable of bringing. He needed the run stopping ability that outstanding linebackers like Luke Kuechly and rookie Shaq Thompson provide.

Do the Cowboys have the kind of defense that Carolina has, specifically in the box?

Well, not exactly.

Having said that, it would make little sense for the Cowboys to pursue Norman, or any other market-setting cornerback available once the free agent signing period begins. According to OverTheCap.com, Norman ranks nowhere near the top of the NFL cornerback pay scale, a distinction that’s about to change in a big way. Norman stands to reach the same neighborhood that corners like Darrelle Revis, Patrick Peterson and Richard Sherman live in.

The Cowboys need no part of that investment, a move that would essentially repeat the bank-breaking signing of Brandon Carr the same year Norman entered the league. That move has only gotten worse the less capable the Cowboys have become at rushing the quarterback and also stopping the run.

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If the Cowboys had tons of cap space and already had multiple Pro Bowl pass rushers upfront, then going after a player like Norman, who just turned 28 in December, might make some sense. When the Cowboys went all-in for Sanders early in the 1995 regular season, they had plenty of talent in the box to justify such an expenditure. The Cowboys won their last Super Bowl because of that one move, at least in large part.

The situation in 2016 is quite different.

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