PFT: No tag for Pep

[Pimpdaddy]

You are only person outside the Peppers family who believes he is the best DE in football.

I know, right. ..thats why I sent him the 12 steps...

[Peppers90 NC]

Who is actually better? There are players who are comparable to him and equal in talent(Freeney, Jared Allen) but he's on the same level as they are. He's a top 3 DE and a top 10 defensive player in the league, even non-panther fans will tell you that.

In fact, I believe 28 other teams agree with you as well, our rivals will hate like we hate. THERE IS NO OTHER DEFENSIVE END, IF DEFENSIVE PLAYER THAT HAS MORE SKILLS THAN PEPPERS. I now live in NYC, and I've heard numerous people say, "As long as Peppers is on the team, you will have a better defense." It may be a shame if he does depart, that all you NC State fans/Peppers haters may finally realize what we may lose.

[Peppers90 NC]

Anything Greek...

Thanks, but I was asking another think-they-know-it-all.

[Swarly]

In fact, I believe 28 other teams agree with you as well, our rivals will hate like we hate. THERE IS NO OTHER DEFENSIVE END, IF DEFENSIVE PLAYER THAT HAS MORE SKILLS THAN PEPPERS. I now live in NYC, and I've heard numerous people say, "As long as Peppers is on the team, you will have a better defense." It may be a shame if he does depart, that all you NC State fans/Peppers haters may finally realize what we may lose.

It's 100% true. People think sack #'s = better player, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I'd rather have a pass rusher who puts CONSTANT pressure onto the QB and forces him to make rushed/bad throws than one who gets 15 sacks a year. Peppers is a guy who can do that, while putting up sacks to go along with it.

You don't know what you have until it's gone. Many Panthers fans will be saying this if Peppers is let go.

[Peppers90 NC]

Everything on ESPN or PFT or NFL about Peppers is PURELY SPECULATION, take everything said their with a grain of salt, because it's likely completely made up.

Thank you. Because everyone moron on this fuging board knows that the last information on anything Panthers, will actually come from the Panthers. People complain that our FO keeps their plans close to the vest, but what idiots wouldn't? I'll answer that...Raiders and Redskins quickly come to mind.

[Woodie]

Monumental blunder by the FO if he walks for nothing.

All businesses have budgets, and it doesn't have to be mandated by a governing agency to be enforced. It's necessary to be fiscally responsible. So, just because we CAN pay Peppers 21 mil. since there is no cap doesn't mean the we should. And the danger of being so focused on getting compensation for losing him is that it could easily backfire. We could tag him in order to trade him, but what happens if nobody is willing to offer any real value? We get stuck with a big 21 million dollar DE that forces us to either go way above our budget (possibly forcing increased ticket prices, loss of non-player personnel, etc. as a way to make up the overage) or skrimp at other positions...much like we did this past season.

Sure, in an ideal world, having Pep on the field for us another year would be a good thing, but in the grand scheme of things, the cost could be far too high and detrimental to the overall team.

[MadHatter]

It's 100% true. People think sack #'s = better player, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I'd rather have a pass rusher who puts CONSTANT pressure onto the QB and forces him to make rushed/bad throws than one who gets 15 sacks a year. Peppers is a guy who can do that, while putting up sacks to go along with it.

You don't know what you have until it's gone. Many Panthers fans will be saying this if Peppers is let go.

The issue with Peppers is that you will get absolutely dominating performances....followed up by him disappearing for games. The inconsistency is the only issue with him.

The top DE's in the league....Freeney, Abraham, Allen, etc... bring it every game. Peppers brings it sometimes.

[Peppers90 NC]

The issue with Peppers is that you will get absolutely dominating performances....followed up by him disappearing for games. The inconsistency is the only issue with him.

The top DE's in the league....Freeney, Abraham, Allen, etc... bring it every game. Peppers brings it sometimes.

Thats an obvious concern...maybe. Not sure how many sacks Allen had this year, but I know 7 or 8 came in two games vs Packers. Did he even play when they played us this year? I didn't recall him making any impact that game. He is a showboat, so when he is on his game, his antics make it seem like he plays harder than Pep who makes the play and goes back to the huddle. Abraham, he does not belong in this discussion. He is not an every down player. Freeney is the only argument of a better 4-3 DE than Peppers. But really? Peppers has revolutionized the position from being a straight ahead pass rush position to a rush and zone player. The intangibles Pep brings are far more valuable than any of these guys you mentioned.

[Boltergeist]

Only Tony Soprano can make him sign now...

So he's going to be a Dolphin .... oh wait, you said Soprano

[CharlotteBeer.com]

I'll hate to see Peppers leave, and I wish we could lock him up for a long-term deal.

That being said, I think we can survive. Brown appears to be coming on strong, and Johnson is going to break-out sooner or later. Brayton has improved since coming here as well.

I'd look at picking someone up in the draft, but I think Johnson and Brayton are capable starters. I like Brown, but I'm not sold on him starting yet.

[Woodie]

I don't understand why people think 21million will hurt this franchise so much. As of 2009, we are the 12th most valuable franchise in the NFL, worth an estimated 1 BILLION dollars.

Franchising Peppers will not hurt the Panthers AT ALL.

That's value, not earnings. Heck, I know a lot of people whose house appraised at $500K, but don't have the available cash to pay their bills. In other words, value does not equal disposable income.

They're both fully capable of doing their job, and are not going to let arguably one of the top defensive players in the league walk for free because they're afraid of dropping a meager(to them, not us) 21 million $ IN AN UNCAPPED YEAR in case a trade or long term deal can't work out.

Sorry, but 21 million is not meager to anyone. And the financial implications could potentially be devastating to the running of the overall team (i.e. both the on-field and off-field operations). Just because the league isn't dictating the max they can spend, doesn't mean the team CAN AFFORD to pay for Pep while still having to fill other needs...particularly ones that were neglected last year like depth and ST, not to mention the huge whole at WR.

[KatsAzz]

In my opinion,we'll still have to wait and see how this plays out. The Panthers are not going to show their hand at this point. My guess is this report is purely speculative. I do agree with one aspect, no way does the Panthers pay him $21.8M for one more season. He's not worth $15M per season. If the Panthers do franchise Peppers it will only be as a first step toward a deal to trade him for some draft pick compensation, if and only if another team is interested enough in him to keep him from entering the open market where they would stand a chance of being out bid in an uncapped off-season. Besides, Jerry Richardson could take the same amount of money and sign 2 maybe 3 actual consistently good football players.

[mountainpantherfan]

I'm not saying that I have any expertise in running a pro football team but here is my opinion.

I would not offer Peppers a contract at all, either long-term or tag, before the dead line. In other words, "let him walk for nothing." But I would try my hardest to let this "walk" happen on good terms. Then when he does enter FA, become just another one of the 32 teams possibly bidding for his contract. If another team outbids the Panthers for him then so be it.

I do agree with Sam Mills Fan though. Back in the 07 offseason, myself and AKPantherFan were two of only a few that were calling for Peppers to be traded. I know I was told I was an idiot and that trading Peppers would be the dumbest move ever made by the Panthers. If only the Panthers would have traded him then they would be in so much better shape then they are now...

[grateflday]

I want to know if a team can remove the tag? I am thinking they can, but not sure with what kind of timeline. Can the Panthers tag Peppers, and then if nothing progresses then remove it?