On April 20, 2016, the Carolina Panthers removed the franchise tag from cornerback Josh Norman. That move allowed Norman to leave for Washington, where he quickly became the NFL's highest-paid player at his position. It was the first big domino to fall in a nasty season for the Panthers, who are 5-8.
So cue the mysterious music and imagine with me an alternate universe in which Norman actually did played for Carolina this season. Norman said Thursday the Panthers would be better in this scenario.
"Definitely so," he proclaimed.
And yes, the Panthers would have been better. But how much better? Norman couldn't have solved the major problems on the offensive line, for instance. The rest of this column is "fake news" _ and it's also the way I believe things would have really turned out if Norman had become a one-year rental for Carolina this season.
