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The Washington Redskins are reportedly releasing veteran cornerback Josh Norman, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. Norman was due more than $15 million against the 2020 salary cap, but his sagging level of play made it unlikely that he would reunite with new head coach Ron Rivera, who worked with him on the Carolina Panthers earlier in Norman’s career.

It creates an interesting situation for the New Orleans Saints, for several reasons. Norman only signed with Washington in the first place simply because they beat the Saints to the punch — New Orleans was the second team to approach Norman about joining them when the Panthers rescinded the franchise tag back in 2016. Saints recruiting efforts had reached contract restructuring discussions with Drew Brees to make room for Norman beneath the salary cap before he ultimately chose to move to D.C.

However, Norman is a very different player now than he was then. He’s 32 and coming off one of his worst years as a pro, having received a Pro Football Focus grade of 45.6; that ranks 111 out of 113 qualifying cornerbacks. If the Saints were to pursue Norman, they would be unlikely to offer him a starting job. He certainly won’t have leverage to ask for significant contract demands.

That said: it’s not impossible to imagine the Saints making a run at him. New Orleans has just three cornerbacks under contract right now, and two of them could be salary cap casualties themselves. Releasing Janoris Jenkins would free up $11.25 million, while cutting Patrick Robinson would make $3.65 million in cap space. The Saints are at a point where they simply need to start adding warm bodies to the depth chart, and it’s no guarantee that starters Eli Apple and P.J. Williams return after testing the free agent market. The Saints have started worse players than Norman, who we have to stress would probably be seen as a backup.

There’s one more wrinkle to consider. Because Norman was released outright, he won’t count against the compensatory draft pick formula for 2021. While the Saints rarely qualify for compensatory picks due to their activity in free agency, their abundance of expiring contracts means they could have a quieter offseason than usual this year. They could check off the “add a veteran cornerback” box on their list of offseason needs by signing Norman and still recoup a draft pick next year should in-house free agents like Teddy Bridgewater or Vonn Bell leave for new teams.

Of course, the argument against signing Norman is that he’s very much near the end of his career. The Saints could use the resources in signing him to add a younger player with a higher ceiling, or bring back someone like Apple or Williams. Just two years ago they believed signing Kurt Coleman in similar circumstances would give the secondary some much-needed experience and playmaking ability on the back end, but he was a liability by midseason. That could be a cautionary tale still fresh in the minds of Saints shot-callers like Sean Payton.

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