Two months shy of his 36th birthday, Josh Norman looks to have secured another gig. The Bills are reuniting with their former starting defender, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. This is a practice squad agreement.
The three-time reigning AFC East champions have seen multiple CB injuries transpire over the past two weeks. Tre’Davious White is lost for the season, and slot corner Taron Johnson left Sunday’s Jaguars matchup with a knee injury. Johnson walked off the field and is not among the Bills’ growing number of defenders lost for the year, but he did not leave the team’s concerning London trip unscathed. Christian Benford is also dealing with an injury, though Sean McDermott labeled the second-year starter day-to-day with a shoulder issue.
Norman, who played for McDermott in Carolina and then Buffalo, was last with the Bills in 2020. He played nine games for McDermott’s team that season. The well-traveled veteran spent last season back with the Panthers.
Buffalo used a first-round pick on a cornerback in 2022, but Kaiir Elam has not seized a starting job. Elam was a healthy scratch over the Bills’ first four games. Even after White’s exit, the team has experience in place, rostering the likes of Dane Jackson, Siran Neal and Cameron Lewis. Elam, however, started against the Jaguars and played 80 defensive snaps in the narrow loss.
Norman saw action in two Panthers games last season. He is best known for his original stint in Charlotte and subsequent run in Washington. Norman parlayed a contract-year breakout — one that occurred during Carolina’s 15-1 season that ended in Super Bowl 50 — into a record-setting deal with Washington. The then-Bruce Allen-run team authorized a five-year, $75MM extension for Norman shortly after the then-Dave Gettleman-led Panthers rescinded his franchise tag. Norman, though, did not live up to his Washington pact and ended up a 2020 cap casualty.
The Bills gave Norman a one-year, $6MM deal in 2020, hoping he could lock down their other boundary post opposite White. Norman failed to do so, going down with a hamstring injury early in his tenure and only starting three Bills contests that year. Norman spent the 2021 season with the 49ers, a year that included one of the most unusual stat lines in recent NFL history. Norman is credited with forcing seven fumbles during his 2021 San Francisco one-off, which did include 14 starts. Not much free agency interest followed, however, leading him back to Carolina as a late-season pickup.