The talk this offseason for the Carolina Panthers has been about cornerback Josh Norman. A pending free agent, the team locked him up with the franchise tag, keeping him in town for at least one more season. While that will pay Norman just shy of $14 million, the real big bucks come with a long-term contract.

Who better to give us what Norman and his agent will likely be looking for than a former agent? We bring in Joel Corry, a former sports agent who helped found Premier Sports & Entertainment, a sports management firm that represented professional athletes and coaches. Before starting his own firm, Corry worked for Management Plus Enterprises, which represented stars like Shaquille O’Neal, and Ronnie Lott.

While many have poked holes at Norman, saying that his age (28 years old) and the fact that he has had only one good season should push his price down. Corry disagrees with that completely.

“Josh Norman isn’t going to care about one good season. He is going to expect a long term deal at the top of the CB market… Revis became the highest paid CB last year & turned 30 in July.”

When figuring out exactly where Norman and his agent are at, Corry looked at the top of the cornerback market.

“$14M per year/more… $40M in guarantees”

We’ve speculated that Norman would be wanting to put himself at that magical $14 million line the top cornerbacks seem to situate themselves. The guarantees are the real interesting part. $40 million in guaranteed cash would sit him tied with Seattle Seahawks corner Richard Sherman for second in the league.

This is likely where the sticking point has been for the Panthers and Norman’s representatives. A four-year deal at $14 million per season would end up being $56 million. With $40 million guaranteed, it would be counting on Norman to not dip in production at all, and in fact, continue to grow.

It will be interesting to see where things end up with the Panthers and Norman in the end. By the looks of it, he will be one of the highest paid cornerbacks one way or another.