Josh Norman Rumors: Thursday Evening

Earlier today, we learned that as many as ten teams have reached out to Josh Norman since he was effectively cut loose by the Panthers on Wednesday. So far, it has been reported that the Steelers, Buccaneers, Dolphins, 49ers, Washington, Jets, and Titans have called on the elite cornerback. However, the Steelers and Jets are reportedly only kicking the tires and don’t have serious plans to pursue the 28-year-old.

Here’s the very latest on Norman:

  • The Dolphins are likely out of the running for Norman, according to Cole (Twitter link).
  • Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff says the team is not interested in signing Norman, as D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. “We are not going in that direction,” Dimitroff said.

Earlier Updates:

  • Norman has switched agents since having his franchise tag revoked by Carolina, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Norman has hired agent Ryan Williams of Athletes First to take lead on his contract. Agent Michael George will serve as his co-representative.
  • The Falcons are also in on Norman, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets. He adds that the bidding for Norman is likely to go higher than Janoris Jenkins’ free agent deal of $62.5MM over five years.
  • The Panthers came close to not putting the franchise tag on Norman before the start of free agency, two sources tell Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (via Twitter).
  • Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman told reporters (including ESPN.com’s David Newton) that the more he and the staff talked, the less attractive a one-year tag for Norman became. He added that there is incentive in getting a compensatory pick as well.
  • Gettleman says the message sent to the Panthers by not keeping Norman is “we want people that were all in,” (via Newton). Ultimately, he says $13.9MM was too much.
  • The 49ers have interest in Norman, but they’d like to meet with him before diving into the market for him, a league source tells Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee.
  • Norman will approach free agency carefully, a source tells Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). Norman will consider money, city, team makeup, coach, and ownership and attempt to pick the team which offers the best combination in those areas.
  • The Dolphins have $19.5MM in cap room, James Walker of ESPN.com (on Twitter) notes. Miami, in theory, has the kind of money to sign Norman, but they also have to find room to sign their rookie class.
  • A few teams have called on Norman in part to find out why the Panthers rescinded the franchise tag, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets.
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