One Week After The Draft, Still No Interest In Peppers

[CatMan72]

Just posted on PFT:

One Week After The Draft, Still No Interest In Peppers

Posted by Mike Florio on May 4, 2009, 9:58 a.m. EDT

In our post-draft Ten-Pack for SportingNews.com, we raised the reality that one of the teams run by coaches and/or General Managers who need to win this year or face getting bumped in favor of one of the senior partners of the firm of Cowher, Holmgren, Shanahan & Gruden might decide to sign Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers to an offer sheet.

Sure, the price remains two first-round draft picks. But with the 2009 draft pick already in the fold, the coaches and/or General Managers who need to win this year would be giving up future first-rounders that they won’t be using anyway, if they get fired.

But there’s currently no evidence that anyone will make a run at Peppers.

The bigger impediment could be Peppers’ contract demands. Now that defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth has gotten $41 million guaranteed and rookie Matt Stafford has seen Haynesworth and raised him by $700,000, Peppers likely wants more than $42 million guaranteed.

As time passes, the likelihood of Peppers signing his franchise tender and making $16.683 million in 2009 will increase. But don’t look for Peppers to do it any time soon; he can avoid all offseason workouts, training camp, and the preseason, and then he can sign the tender in early September and still get the full amount of his $16.683 million.

There are two ways that this wouldn’t happen. First, the Panthers could rescind the tender, making Peppers an immediate free agent. (It’s highly unlikely.) Second, the Panthers and Peppers could work out a deal pursuant to which the Panthers would agree not to use the tag on Peppers again in 2010, like Haynesworth and others have done in the past.

From Carolina’s perspective, there’s no guarantee that they’d use the tag again next year, even without a salary cap. Based on Peppers’ franchise number in 2009, the Panthers would have to offer him a whopping $20.01 million for the 2010 season.

Bottom line? All signs are pointing to Peppers being a Panther in 2009, unless Peppers is willing to take a lot less than what Haynesworth received.

[CatMan72]

My personal theory: price tag + 29 + 2.5 sack season + quirky personality + Panthers trade demands = Peppers being a Panther in 2009.

Interesting idea to do a Haynesworth-type contract with him where we agree to not tag him next year, but I'm not sure how much the cap space helps us now that most of the quality FA's are signed and we still end up empty handed next year.

[rayzor]

why try when you know that the team has no intention of letting him go? (unless, of course, they get a couple 1st rounders or some other equally sweet deal)

other teams know that the panthers aren't messing around with this one. they have set the price high enough that very few are going to come knocking and that is done by design. they want him here strongly enough that nobody is going to willingly bang their head against a wall.

anyway, the panthers wouldn't be getting the calls anyway, not that they would say they were getting calls...that's up for carey to do. have teams been contacting him and has he been trying to shop peppers around? NO ONE is saying anything. there is no smoke coming from anywhere. no "league sources" are saying anything. the only signs of life have been speculations from reporters trying to think of possible scenarios.

panthers (coaches and players alike) have been talking like he is going to be in for training camp. most likely that is going to be what happens and the panthers are most happy about it because that is what they wanted all along.

[Sam Mills Fan]

I like the idea of an agreement to not franchise him again next year (not that even Marty Hurney would dumb enough to pay a lazy SOB like Pep $20 million for one season). If he's guaranteed free agency, he at least won't come down with a mysterious illness again. Although, you would still be letting him go without receiving any compensation which would just be embarrassing.

[Kyle82]

Yeah I think the 'window' has passed and Pep will face reality and report to camp on August 2....enough is enough; this is a no-win situation for both sides.

[Lone Buc Fan]

Yup.. he's stuck in Carolina because of the Panthers... so, I don't expect to see too big of a year out of him and he'll continue with the "I haven't reached my potential" crap that he spewed this off-season. He's a baller though, so hard saying... even as good as he is, he still gets beat more often then he gets in the backfield.

[Kurb]

IS that english ?

[Fireball77]

I like the idea of an agreement to not franchise him again next year (not that even Marty Hurney would dumb enough to pay a lazy SOB like Pep $20 million for one season). If he's guaranteed free agency, he at least won't come down with a mysterious illness again. Although, you would still be letting him go without receiving any compensation which would just be embarrassing.

They would get a compentsatory pick out of that almost for sure.

It isn't embarrassing, other players have walked away after the FT was on them the prior year (as others have mentioned). I think it's more idiotic to keep tagging a guy over and over at ridiculous dollars so I hope they don't do that next year.

[Brooklyn Bully]

Why do some of you think he'll show up for camp? Like the article says, he doesn't have to. He works out on his own, he obviously thinks he's good enough to just show up and play, etc. You think he'll be there because that's the "right thing to do?". No way.

There's also no way we give him 20m next season.

This is all why I made that poll that asked if you thought he'd be there for game one. Now I actually think he will, and that'll be the first time we'll see him since the Arizona game.

[jpniner]

I like how they introduced Brown with a #91 Jersey

nice message to send there

[joemac]

Yup.. he's stuck in Carolina because of the Panthers... so, I don't expect to see too big of a year out of him and he'll continue with the "I haven't reached my potential" crap that he spewed this off-season. He's a baller though, so hard saying... even as good as he is, he still gets beat more often then he gets in the backfield.

You're a fuging retard....

Everyone gets beat more often than they get in the backfield. If Peppers didnt, he would have like 50 sacks a year. He had 14.5 last year....no one on the sorry ass Bucs had more than 6. So what does that say about your defense?

Hell, our BACKUP defense end, Charles Johnson, had 6 sacks.

[Lone Buc Fan]

You're a fuging retard....

Everyone gets beat more often than they get in the backfield. If Peppers didnt, he would have like 50 sacks a year. He had 14.5 last year....no one on the sorry ass Bucs had more than 6. So what does that say about your defense?

Hell, our BACKUP defense end, Charles Johnson, had 6 sacks.

Actually Gaines had more then 6 xD... and why don't you learn to pipe it down or go over to the smack forum? You know there is a place if you wanna act like a foul mouthed child.

And actually, getting in the backfield and forcing errant throws or hurrying the QB is considered as beating the oline. Tampa had the #4 pass defense, so it tells me that with us only gettng 29 sacks... that our secondary is definatley substantially better then your secondary as we allowed less receiving yards and had more interceptions to answer your question.

[joemac]

Funny, I just looked at the Bucs stats on NFL.com, and it states the Gaines Adams led your pathetic team with 6 sacks.....so who is right, the official league website, or you?

http://www.nfl.com/teams/tampabaybuccaneers/statistics?team=TB

The main thing that sticks out to me about your secondary is Ronde Barber getting the stiff-arms from Hell from D-Will and Stewart.

[Kevin Greene]

They would get a compentsatory pick out of that almost for sure.

It isn't embarrassing, other players have walked away after the FT was on them the prior year (as others have mentioned). I think it's more idiotic to keep tagging a guy over and over at ridiculous dollars so I hope they don't do that next year.

Hmmm, I wonder how many would be willing to let Pep go Free Agent right now for an eventual 3rd round compensatory pick in next years draft and 17 million dollars in extra cap space immediately.