Ralph Vacchiano of SNY, citing a team source, reports that the Giants are planning to pursue Panthers G Andrew Norwell in free agency.
According to Vacchiano, it could end up costing a team over $12 million per year to get Norwell under contract long-term. However, it sounds like the Giants aren’t scared off by this figure.
At the Combine, Giants GM Dave Gettleman, who has ties to Norwell from their time together in Carolina, discussed the value of interior lineman.
“There isn’t a quarterback alive that’s going to get in the huddle and say, ‘OK, boys, let them up the middle. I’ll deal with it,’” Gettleman said. “You need to be firm in the middle. So at the end of the day if it’s keeping your quarterback upright and out of the hospital.”
Earlier in the week, Ian Rapoport reported that the Panthers are more likely to franchise K Graham Gano than Norwell, so the expectation is that he’ll be available in the coming weeks.
Norwell, 26, signed on with the Panthers as an undrafted free agent out of Ohio State back in 2014. He finished a three-year, $1,542,000 deal with Carolina before agreeing to a one-year restricted tender worth $2.746 million for the 2017 season.
In 2017, Norwell appeared in all 16 games for the Panthers and Pro Football Focus rated him as the No. 3 guard out of 77 qualifying players.
We have him featured in our Top 100 – 2018 NFL Free Agents list.
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