Buffalo Bills: Making the case to re-sign Josh Norman
Last year, the Buffalo Bills signed veteran cornerback Josh Norman after he was released by Washington. This wasn’t much of a surprise considering Norman started his career with the Carolina Panthers, playing in Sean McDermott’s defense, and the Bills haven’t been afraid to sign former Panthers.
During that time he had some of the best years of his career and in 2015 was named to the Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro. He struggled in Washington but the thought was returning to McDermott’s defense could be enough to give him a bounce back year late in his career.
This is how he did last year and I give some reasons why the Buffalo Bills may want to re-sign Josh Norman.
2020 Season in Review
Josh Norman started the year competing with Levi Wallace for the starting job opposite Tre’Davious White. He was actually listed as the starter coming out of training camp however he was dealing with a hamstring injury that forced him to start the year on injured reserve.
He missed the first three games but returned in Week 4 against the Las Vegas Raiders. He was expected to slowly be worked into the rotation but Levi Wallace suffered an ankle injury early in that game that eventually resulted in him being on injured reserve.
Norman stepped in as the starter and would start the next two games. However, he suffered another hamstring injury and then was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. He would return in Week 12 but it wasn’t until Week 15 that he started to see regular snaps and at that point was almost in an equal rotation with Levi Wallace over the final three regular seasons games and the three playoff games.
He finished the season with 30 total tackles, one interception, four passes defended, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries.
Why the Buffalo Bills would be interested in re-signing Josh Norman
At this point in his career, Josh Norman is likely not a full-time starter but that isn’t to say he wouldn’t be valuable to this defense. He showed at the end of the year he can be productive in limited or rotation at the cornerback position.
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The Buffalo Bills do have some younger players, like Levi Wallace or Dane Jackson, who could compete for the starting job and be pushed by a veteran like Josh Norman. The Bills only have four cornerbacks currently on their roster so a veteran like Norman could be a good depth signing for this coming season.