After the big event of the Browns-Eagles trade for the number two spot in the NFL draft, comes a bigger surprise today: All-Pro first team cornerback Josh Norman was unconditional released by the Carolina Panthers.

“After a number of conversations with Josh’s agent we realized that a long-term deal was not attainable,” general manager Dave Gettleman said in released statement. “We have decided to rescind the franchise tag freeing Josh to immediately become a UFA. We thank Josh for all his contributions and truly wish him well.”

Norman had a career-best year in 2015 with four interceptions, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and 16 passes defensed. His contributions were crucial for the Panthers to lead the NFL with 20 net turnovers, 24 interceptions, 39 instances of points from turnovers, and 148 points from turnovers. Bill Barnwell of ESPN expressed commonplace confusion over the Panthers’ decision:

Weird thing with Norman is that the Panthers didn’t try and trade him. Would have had a market, even on one-year franchise tag. — Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) April 20, 2016

According to OverTheCap.com Norman’s franchise tag was worth $13.952 million. NFL Network’s Ian Rapaport says that Norman sought a long-term contract for over $16 million per year:

Josh Norman was looking to be paid more than $16M per year… like the 1st 3 years of Darrelle Revis' extension. CAR cut him loose instead — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 20, 2016

Rapaport further adds that the Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, and Tennessee Titans all need cornerbacks and have the salary cap space to sign Norman.

It is ironic that only three hours earlier Denver Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. was asked by Denver Post‘s Cameron Wolfe why he did not rank Norman among the top five CBs in the NFL, “Nah, you’ve got to do it for more than one year.”

Harris looks to be 'even more dominant' this year https://t.co/f5ILafDnt5 — David Mullin (@RD_Mullin) April 21, 2016

Harris said his list of top five backfield defenders have all played on an elite level “for five years.” His list includes New York Jets Darrelle Revis, Seattle Seahawks Richard Sherman, Arizona Cardinals, Broncos Aqib Talib, and Harris himself.

“You’ve got to do it more than one year. We’ve been guys that have done it five years. I don’t know how many years for Revis – nine or 10 this year. Talib has done it eight years. It’s about being good for a long time, not just one year.”

Harris along with Talib are working hard with the rest of the team during this week’s voluntary workouts at the Broncos’ UCHealth Training Center in Englewood.