Josh Norman didn't want to leave the comfort of the Carolina Panthers, but after the team moved on, the corner is enjoying his new digs.
The All-Pro corner likes that defensive coordinator Joe Barry's defense in Washington allows him the liberty to take on bigger challenges.
"I'm more free, I think," Norman told ESPN 980, via the Washington Post. "If I get one wide receiver, I can pretty much play it however I really want to play it, in the concept of the call that (Barry's) made. I have free range to do that. Even coming over on slot, I'm playing a different combination than I would back in Carolina. Not saying that their defense scheme was bad, at all. It was a good scheme for what it was. Coming here, I just feel like our different coverages, traps and everything are a little bit more to my style of play, man. I'm like a rogue savage out there, so I'm playing ball at the highest level of speed. I don't need to think much; I just need to go."
"It means I can be whatever I want to be," he said. "I can be free. I want to play the game ruthless and violent. If you think about a savage; that's pretty much where I'm at."
Norman noted that not every defense allows for that autonomy.
"No," he said. "I mean, every defense has its way, but it's more freedom [here], man. It's like if I've got a coverage, I'm with that coverage, 100 percent. I'm not like 'Okay, I've got to think about doing something else, I've got to think about all these other combinations, if that happens or that happens.' No. If I get a call, GO. Just go. There's no ifs ands or buts. Make a play."
The Redskins signed Norman to a massive contract to make plays. They'll give him the freedom to do just that.