Monday night will be the unofficial Josh Norman bowl, a matchup of the Carolina Panthers and the Washington Redskins where Norman has an opportunity to sling a big ol' pie full of revenge at his old team.
Don't think for a second Norman has forgotten about the offseason -- which saw Carolina rescind his franchise tag before he signed a $75 million deal with Washington -- just because the Panthers have been terrible this year. Before Monday's matchup in Landover, Maryland, Norman said that he thinks Panthers GM Dave Gettleman was essentially two-faced in dealing with him.
"He'd always been nice to me. He always was smiling, cracking jokes with us. But when you're smiling and cracking jokes, you never know behind your back it's totally different," Norman told Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer.
"When it comes down to it, I guess it's all about money than it is relationships."
The cornerback is having a standout season with the Redskins -- Norman is tied for 12th in the league in passes defensed (13). According to Pro Football Focus, Norman has allowed an 85.8 passer rating against for the season and given up just 466 passing yards on 53.8 percent completions his way this season.
He survived a gantlet of receivers early in the year, facing off against Antonio Brown, Dez Bryant and Odell Beckham Jr. in his first three weeks. This game, though, is his ultimate test because of how much revenge clearly fuels him.
Norman told reporters he still feels like he was "stabbed [in] the back" on the way out of Carolina.
"My agent is a representative of me and that's kind of how he took it and looked at it. And I'm like, 'Well, dang, I thought you would know me better than that.' And it just went downhill from there," Norman said.
"It almost felt like I was stabbed [in] the back in a way. But at the same time I'm not saying he probably meant to do that in that way. It's just probably the business aspect of it and the money factor and what he believed."
This is nothing really new for Norman, who previously said he was "sideswiped" by the Panthers.
The Panthers aren't losing because of Norman's absence, but they certainly wouldn't mind having his services. At 5-8, whatever slim hopes they have of the playoffs could be snuffed out Monday.
Norman wouldn't mind helping out, noting how far off Gettleman's philosophy of one player mattering looks now.
"I guess he wants to take those words back," Norman said. "He may have to rehash the notion that he doesn't subscribe to one player."
Again, the Panthers aren't missing the playoffs because they're missing Norman. But when you combine his departure with their struggles, it's easy for the guy on the team with the winning record to gloat about his current lot in life.
