Dallas Cowboys: Is Josh Norman worth signing?

The Dallas Cowboys are still in need of a major repair of their defensive backfield as they began that last season with the addition of Byron Jones in the first round of the NFL Draft. This season, the Cowboys could go that same route, but now there is another option out on the free agent market they could potentially court.

Josh Norman would really help the rebuild or re-molding of the Dallas Cowboys defense, and now he’s on the open market as the Carolina Panthers rescinded their franchise tag on one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL on Wednesday afternoon.

So now I will ask: Will Norman be worth the asking price that it will cost to sign his services to a team, knowing that he is a solid player? He may be the one of best cornerbacks in the game today, but he did struggle against one of the main rivals of the Cowboys last season.

Last season, despite being one of the best corners in the game, and even though he and Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants did play too physical against each other, it was Beckham who eventually won that individual battle with six receptions for 76 yards and one touchdown against Norman, and in that game, Beckham Jr. dropped a wide-open touchdown pass after racing past Norman.

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Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus wrote about Norman and which teams should go after him (the Cowboys were not on this list), but he did provide information on just how well he played against Beckham last season:

"“While that game will be remembered for Norman and Beckham losing their discipline entirely and concentrating more on scuffling with each other than playing football, by the time things really went south Norman had already been beaten badly on a deep pass that Beckham dropped.”"

If there is one thing I do know, it is the Cowboys, even with the return of Orlando Scandrick this upcoming season and as holders of the No. 4 overall pick, could use all of the help possible with their defensive backfield.

As for the grades PFF brings to the table for the entire season, they didn’t have Norman in the Top 10 for his play last season, grading him 11th overall at 84.1, as his coverage grade was 87.8. In comparison, the highest-graded Cowboys defensive back was Brandon Carr at 73rd overall with a grade of 54.7, as his coverage grade was 53.4. Next was Morris Claiborne at 104th overall, having a grade of 38.5. for the year.

Jones was drafted as a cornerback last season, but played safety, where in his first season in the NFL he graded 23rd at the position with a grade of 79.8, including a coverage grade of 84.2.

Here is a big “What If,” but what if the Cowboys were to sign Norman, who just completed his fourth NFL season, have Jones stay at safety and draft Jalen Ramsey with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft next Thursday … how good and dominant would that defensive backfield be? Or play Ramsey at safety with Jones, and have Scandrick and Norman be the two cornerbacks with Claiborne playing at times as well … that could make life difficult for opponents in the ’16 season.

Last season, Norman in 16 regular-season games totaled 56 tackles (48 solo) with 19 passes defensed and two touchdowns. Remember, he did hold the great DeAndre Hopkins of the Houston Texans to just two receptions for 27 yards in ’15, and he also held the Cowboys’ own Dez Bryant to one reception for six yards.

The ’15 season also saw Norman battle with Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons, where Jones totaled 113 yards on nine receptions total in their two matchups.

Again, that is a huge “What If” scenario, but Norman was better than any defensive back on the roster of the Cowboys in ’15, and if they want to do whatever they can to get a realistic shot at playing for the Super Bowl once again, does signing a player like Norman make sense for this team?

Whenever I think about free agent cornerbacks and the spending of free agent money it takes to get them on your roster, one player that always comes to mind from recent seasons is Nnamdi Asomugha, formerly of the Oakland Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles.

He was “the best” when he became a free agent as well, back when he left the Raiders after eight seasons (Norman spent half that time with Carolina) before “falling apart” in Philadelphia after just two seasons, only to wrap up his career with the San Francisco 49ers in ’13.

The good thing about Norman is he played just four seasons with the Panthers, and unlike Asomugha, he seems to still be in the prime of his career, so maybe this won’t turn into that type of situation for the team that eventually signs Norman.

In ’15, Norman had 19 passes defensed and just from the look at the stat sheet – and yes, teams didn’t challenge him as much at times – he had either zero or one pass defenses from Week 9 through the end of the regular season, including no passes defensed against the Washington Redskins (Week 11), New Orleans Saints (Week 13) and the New York Giants (Week 15), as that was the physical battle with Beckham Jr. where the Giants wide receiver won that individual showdown that day. With that said, he’s still a top defensive back in the league,

In the playoffs, Norman had a total of four passes defensed in three games, with two in the NFC Championship against the Arizona Cardinals and two against the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl. He faced quarterbacks Carson Palmer and Peyton Manning on those days, so to play that well, especially against Palmer in the NFC Championship game, is impressive as well.

In a look at the career of Norman, in the three seasons where he played at least 14 games in a given year, he’s had pretty consistent numbers with 56 tackles in ’15, 48 tackles in ’14 and his rookie season of ’12 he totaled 73 tackles.

What about the age of Norman? He’ll be turning 29 this season, so even as he’s getting closer to his 30s, Norman is still a quality player to sign, though if I were a team, it would be for no longer than four seasons.

Remember when the Cowboys signed Deion Sanders in the mid-to-late ’90s? He was the best cornerback at the time as well, and when he became the Cowboys’ starting cornerback, Sanders was 28 years old, playing five seasons with the team.

Sanders stayed with the Cowboys until he was 32 years old, and during his tenure, he had two interceptions in each of his first three seasons, followed by five interceptions in year four and three interceptions in year five of the contract.

I’m not saying Norman is Sanders (nobody was as good as “Primetime”, but this situation is very comparable between the two stellar cornerbacks.

Mark Maske of The Washington Post had this to say about Norman in an recent article:

"“Norman might not be the league’s best cornerback, but few, if any, cornerbacks played the position better last season than Norman did. Cornerbacks like him are not easily found, and they are an oh-so-valuable commodity in today’s pass-happy NFL.”"

If the Cowboys were to be interested in him, sure, they’ll have to make so salary cap adjustments, but how often does a player like Norman all of a sudden become a free agent? Dallas would be smart to look into adding Norman to a defense that has question marks surrounding it for at least the first four weeks of the season with two starters already most likely suspended, and defensive backs that weren’t at the top of their game last season.

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The Cowboys’ window of getting Tony Romo and Jason Witten to a Super Bowl is starting to close faster, and one way to help keep the window open is to fix their defense. In today’s NFL, it wouldn’t hurt them to sign a player like Norman who would provide instant results, but the only question I have is – and this is with a lot of players each season – how much longer will those top results last?

But the question still remans … Will Norman be worth the asking price for the Cowboys to sign him?