So the Panthers are kinda up shit creek with this Peppers contract situation

[Fiz]

I think we'll all agree that the defensive line needs serious retooling in the offseason. Peppers is an ufa, we desperately need another DT as well as DT depth, and I'd argue that if the opportunity presented itself we'd need to grab a DE better than Brayton and Johnson. As much as Brayton has come on of late (I gladly admit I was wrong about him) I feel both of them would be better served as rotational guys, though we could probably get by with what we're doing now. Of course, we also don't have a first to spend on a DT, though this is a pretty rich draft coming up and good talent will be found in the

If we resign Peppers, it basically sucks up any cap space we could spend on serious upgrades at the tackle position, like making a move for an Igor Olshanksy or maybe even Babineaux. We also basically say good bye to Jordan Gross and probably move either Wharton or Otah to tackle, which is like losing two starters, or draft one in the second round, once again ignoring DT depth.

If we choose to let Peppers go, as much as he likes to take plays/entire halves of football off, we maintain the offensive line but need SERIOUS help on the defensive line. Gross' contract probably takes us out of the running for a stud D Line free agent and we'll have to make magic happen in the draft/scouting the scrap heap. And saying we don't draft defensive tackles well in the Fox era is generous.

also I wanted to use this emoticon :party:

[Rock_Steady]

Peppers is an ufa

Is it "an" ufa, or "a" ufa? Have to look that one up.

[Speed]

11 million. poo! He needs to be more consistant. The giants game made it obvious to me that we need to draft defense.

[Carolina_Pride]

Peppers is not up nothing. Pro Bowler, who where every he goes will rack up big bucks. Who will get the franchise tag this year and maybe even again next year too.

??? Can Delhomme restructure to help with the cap?

[ShutDwn]

Johnson is good enough to be a Rucker type player, as long as he has Peppers over there.

What we need most is a defensive rotation inside, and a player that can take away the ability for a QB to step up.

[Sam Mills Fan]

I'd like to keep Pep, but he is absolutely not worth the biggest contract for a defensive player in history which is what he's going to be looking for. We cannot pay that. Period.

[N1kkadeemuz]

So i guess my peppers jersey is gonna be worthless next year.

[Lt Pinkerton]

He takes a lot of plays off as it is. If we were to sign him to a huge contract think how easy he would take it.

[flex]

If I was Pep I'd get the hell out of dodge. Before I get blasted for saying this think about it for a second. What have the Panther's did for him but keep him in a double team sitiuation his entire stay with us. I love Steward; however, had we drafted somone to take pressure off Pep where whould he be? On the same note, how much better whould our team be on defense? Lets face it folks our defense sucks. With that said, I have a vision of the Panther's loosing him to a team which has a defense he cant be doubled team and then he blows up into the #1 defender that he is. I hope we dont loose big Bailey, because he cannot be replaced.

[Cpt slay a ho]

i wish i could go in the future to show some of you what we'd be without peppers,and who are you to say he takes a play off......find me some evidence

[IIII 47 IIII]

i wish i could go in the future to show some of you what we'd be without peppers,and who are you to say he takes a play off......find me some evidence

This post FTW.

[BlindSite]

Peppers contract won't hurt as much as you might think.

First of all, this is why his cap numbers hurt so much right now:

• Bonus money based on performance is classified in one of two ways. Likely To Be Earned and (LTBE) and Unlikely To Be Earned (UTBE). LTBE bonuses are counted toward the cap, whether they're reached or not and UTBE are not counted against the cap whether they're reached or not. However to stop this being exploited if a LTBE bonus is not reached in the 04/05 season but counts against the cap, the cap will be wound up slightly in 05/06 and the reverse is the same for UTBE

The UTBE Bonuses that were put into his rookie contract are smashing our cap numbers. In other words, the bonuses Peppers has been earning all his career have held our cap space down when compared to the rest of the NFL.

Remember this when seeing contracts:

• Guaranteed money in contracts are prorated (proportioned) over the term of the contract e.g. $30 million dollar bonus will cost a team 5 million per year against the cap over 6 years.

I would expect a 6 year 75 million dollar contract with about 15 to 20 million being largely bonus money and a 10 million (or so) roster bonus.

Roughly 30 million of this would be bonus money, so he'd count 5 million against the cap right away those years, the 10 million would be prorated as well, so that figure would increase to 6.6 million a year, plus his base salary (5.8 million per year).

This would make Pep the highest paid defensive end in the NFL and he'd count approximately 11 million per season. The hard cap for the NFL this year was 116 million.

In 2007 Pep counted 14 million against the salary cap, so resigning him puts the team in a better situation than they've been in financially for the last 3 seasons.

Oh and you are downright retarded if you think we'll find a more productive or better defensive end in free agency or in the NFL draft with a late second round pick

[The Answer]

Pep is not clutch enough for 11 mill.

[KillerKat]

Peppers isn't going anywhere. The End.