Redskins plan to let Josh Norman 'earn the $75M' vs. Odell Beckham
According to a report, Norman will shadow the Giants superstar in Week 3
For the third week in a row, the football-watching world is going to get a juicy matchup involving Redskins cornerback Josh Norman. This week it's the Giants' Odell Beckham, Jr., the man who helped to launch Norman's fame into the stratosphere thanks to an ugly battle in the Giants-Panthers game last season.
And this week's battle royale will be particularly spicy, because Norman will reportedly shadow Beckham the entire afternoon, or at least most of it.
Britt McHenry of ESPN reports Odell is spending the afternoon trailing Beckham unless Beckham moves inside.
Norman will go "anywhere Odell goes ... except for slot," the source said.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
Specifically, a source told McHenry that Norman is going to "earn" his $75 million chasing Beckham around.
"We're going to let him earn the $75 million," the source said, referring to the five-year, $75 million contract Norman signed during the offseason.
This is beautiful. Oh so beautiful. Not only does it create a little controversy amid a Redskins team that already is sniping against one another a bit thanks to reported locker-room complaints involving quarterback Kirk Cousins.
But it also ignores the fact that Norman's been pretty good this year. Really good actually -- he's currently the top-ranked cornerback this season according to Pro Football Focus. The only criticism? He hasn't been a completely shutdown corner because the Redskins didn't scheme to let him follow receivers around.
Antonio Brown lit up the Redskins defense in a Steelers Week 1 victory when Norman spent the entire night on the side opposite of the field.
The Giants weren't really impressed, and multiple players on that team mocked him for not following Brown around. The reality is Norman was never going to follow Brown and lock him down.
He wasn't going to spend every snap matching up with Dez Bryant either.
When Norman does shadow receivers, however, he's pretty good at shutting them down. From our own Jared Dubin, who looked at the numbers before the matchup against Brown and the Steelers.
| WEEK | WR | REC | TGT | YDS | TD | INT |
| 2 | DeAndre Hopkins | 2 | 7 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Vincent Jackson | 2 | 6 | 31 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | T.Y. Hilton | 1 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Dez Bryant | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Julio Jones | 4 | 6 | 33 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Odell Beckham | 4 | 7 | 30 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | Julio Jones | 5 | 6 | 80 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Mike Evans | 1 | 5 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | TOTAL | 20 | 45 | 234 | 1 | 1 |
Norman really is a shutdown corner. He really has been good. If he managed to keep Beckham contained, the narrative may shift in his favor.
















