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Golden Nuggets: 49ers don't get Josh Norman

You San Francisco 49ers links for Saturday, April 23rd 2016

By Patrick Holloway@PatOHolloway Apr 23, 2016, 2:30am PDT

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The San Francisco 49ers will not be signing recent free agent cornerback Josh Norman. It seemed pretty mixed, some were happy the 49ers didn't nab him, others have taken this opportunity to vent against Baalke for failing in free agency yet again.

Truth is, signing Josh Norman would certainly help our defense, but,at his age, the idea of throwing the money that Washington did doesn't sound like the best use of our salary cap. If the 49ers were positioned for a playoff push, taking the risk is definitely the way to go, but the 49ers are clearly in a development year, which means $15-$30 million of that salary gets eaten for a cornerback that will turn 29 this season. Sure Norman could light the field up, but when the team is rebuilding, do you really want to have a cornerback eat all that money for one year? After 2016, Norman will be 30 and the highest paid member on the team. The money was just too much with the situation the 49ers find themselves in. If he would have been cheaper, it would have been a great decision, but for the money he's asking? There's other things to worry about, and like James said yesterday, I don't want to revisit a contract like that in 2-3 years.

Speaking of money, wasn't there a tweet that claimed a source said Norman was going to look at the entire package; the coach, the town, the ownership, and not about the money? Given that huge contract they fed him and how Washington was the only place he went to analyze the whole package (not to mention the reputation of their owner), that's not exactly scouting the best possible spot. In fact, it seems to prove that old saying: when they say it's not about the money, it's about one thing: the money.