Josh starting a charity basketball game in Charlotte

[Captain Morgan]

Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman will hold his inaugural celebrity basketball game in Charlotte on Friday night because this has become his home.

The 2015 Pro Bowl selection is optimistic it will remain his home as the Panthers and his representation work through his contract situation.

The two sides met this week at the NFL combine in Indianapolis to begin discussing a long-term deal, according to a league source.

If a deal can’t be reached by Tuesday, Carolina general manager Dave Gettleman has said the franchise tag that would guarantee Norman approximately $13.8 million in 2016 is an option.

“I really hope that I can be here, because I’ve been here my whole life," said Norman, who grew up in nearby Greenwood, South Carolina, and played college football at Coastal Carolina in Conway, South Carolina. “I don’t want to change that.

“When it’s all said and done, something will get done. But hey, you never know how things will go. It’s a business at the end of the day, and nothing is ever personal."

http://espn.go.com/blog/carolina-panthers/post/_/id/19884/josh-norman-setting-charity-roots-where-hes-optimistic-hell-play

[Cary Kollins]

huddle jamz?

[Captain Morgan]

this is the first good news I've heard about a possible long term contract.

[bLACKpANTHER]

Even if we tag him, can't we still try and get a long term deal done by a certain date? Or if we tag him - that's it?

[Bartin]

48 minutes ago, bLACKpANTHER said:

Even if we tag him, can't we still try and get a long term deal done by a certain date? Or if we tag him - that's it?

We would have until sometime in the middle of July(15th I think) to get a deal done. After that he has to play on the tag. Typically when a player gets tagged, talks are just halted between the two sides and resumed sometime in June and the deal if it happens is done near the deadline because really nothing ever gets done without deadlines.

[Panthro]

I just won this