Latest Peppers speculation...

[UNCrules2187]

I think Pep will ultimately get a deal that, on the surface, will make him the highest paid defensive player in the league (maybe something like 8 years, $120 mil), but that in reality, will be something shorter and less guaranteed (5 years, $55-$60 mil guaranteed).

[Wither]

i'm tellin' you, he's lookin' for a Big Ben contract extension, 8yrs. $102mill. to be exact. i had that info incorrect previously. which is about 12.5 a year. which makes a lot of sense to me. and if that was the offer they made to him last season, he should take it this season, knowing that Moore will be his new QB next season.

I think Pep will ultimately get a deal that, on the surface, will make him the highest paid defensive player in the league (maybe something like 8 years, $120 mil), but that in reality, will be something shorter and less guaranteed (5 years, $55-$60 mil guaranteed).

One way or another it will be 12mil. It will either be guaranteed or look like it.

[unicar15]

I agree, it's last year all over again. Just tag him when the time comes and be done with it.

If we tag him I will burn down BOA stadium. There are two players in this league that are worth 20 million bucks a year and neither of them get it...Peyton Manning and Drew Brees.

To even think that a DE deserves that kind of money is ridiculous to me. Do you realize how many other good players you can add for 20 million dollars annually?? You could even add a GREAT player for less than that and keep all of the other pieces that we have including important guys like Marshall and TD.

[Brooklyn Bully]

Same old crap. We won't pay him what he wants to be paid, and he won't accept our offer. With the no cap season on its way, we could franchise him, but that's just stupid. Nobody deserves to make that much money in one season.

[pantherfan81]

Here's what SI.com says:

Julius Peppers, DE

So you think it's a no-brainer the Panthers will franchise or extend a player still in the prime of his career at 29 and who's had double-digit sacks in all but two of his eight NFL seasons. Don't be so sure. If the Panthers lay the tag on Peppers, by rule they will owe him a 20 percent increase on the franchise contract he received this year. That's more than $20 million. And if they extend him, the total value of, say, a three-year deal would be near $45 million. Expect Peppers to be signed, then dealt for picks.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1001/nfl.possible.free.agents/content.4.html

[ladypanther]

What they do not know is the love that JR has for Julius. Why do you think that Trgo was "allowed" to look for others jobs and took a demotion?

Julius will be back. He is JR's football son.

[ToriSuprano]

I agree Catman... You cant let him walk. He's worth two decent players or a couple of draft picks. We gave him way too much money over the last couple of years to let him go to another team and decide that he wants to be an every down player again. I say give him a 6 year deal which would lock him up for the rest of his prime, and then if he wants to walk, let him. He will be a shell of his former self, and in no position to ask for big bucks again.

[mush]

If he gives a hometown discount and signs with us for long term, I'd be willing to throw a tailgate in his honor.

[mantal]

If he tests the market, he will not be back as a Panther. He's thought of too highly around the league NOT to get offered a monster contract.

You'd think so, wouldn't you? But he couldn't get another team to bite the last time, why would it be different now?

[PanthersPhan18]

Pep ain't going nowhere...

I hope you're right.

[GRWatcher]

Haynesworth's deal is really a 4 year/48 million USD deal, which is around 12 mil a year, not 15+ mil a year that everyone keeps referencing.

You'd think so, wouldn't you? But he couldn't get another team to bite the last time, why would it be different now?

It'll be even harder for Peppers to get another team to bite because the Haynesworth experiment in DC hasn't turned out in the team's favor. Not many overpaid FA defensive players have done well for the teams that signed them. If anything, IMO it makes teams skeptical of paying that much for a FA.

I hope they work something out and he retires a Panther. :biggrinjester: