Now What Is Next?

[methodtoll]

For God's sake people, do you not get it? I don't know how many times I have to explain this... There was no way in hell that the Front Office was going to spend that much money on ONE PLAYER, he simply wasn't worth the money when the money can be used on signing quality players and locking up more of our own long term...

There was a contract on the table that would've of made Peppers the highest paid DE in the league well before camp last season and Peppers didn't accept it so its not like the Panthers didn't try to lock up Peppers to a longer deal.

Furthermore, I know many here think that we could've simply tag and trade him for compensation but 1) Pep didn't sign his tender until training camp and 2) Even if he was going to sign his tender early, we don't know how many teams would be willing to not only A) sign him to a longer deal that matched what Carolina was offering him and give up draft picks.

Sure, there were RUMORED trade talks between Carolina and New England but nothing was confirmed and nothing could've actually gotten done until he actually signed his tender.

Fast forward to the end of this season, after playing 1 season under Meeks, he said that he wouldn't mind staying with the team. Many said that the Panthers were not talking to him and not even trying but the deal was still on the table, nothing had changed from last year and if he was that interested in staying with the team then he would've of accept the offer that the Panthers had offered him in the first place.

Lastly, since none of this transpired, the Panthers had the option of tagging him AGAIN... This time costing them a whooping 21 mill...Just keep that in mind people... 21 mill for ONE player...

So point being is, if you are really going to blame the Front Office, then you may want to re-think this because I can tell you that they know what they doing and while some my disagree, others will actually think logically and accept that the Panthers made the RIGHT decision

[NJPanthers12]

The Panthers absolutly should have placed the tag on Pep. Yes, the tag will cost 21 mil but it is an uncapped year. You would not be crippling the roster by placing the tag on him, like we did last year. Julius Peppers is a once in a generation talent, and I just cannot agree with anyone who does not think he is the best player to ever put on a Carolina Panthers uniform. I can see people arguing Steve Smith, but it is outrageous that any list has Sam Mills ranked ahead of him. Julius Peppers has ben apart of 5 pro bowls with this team, and was thought of so highly he was elected to the all decade team.

You have all these "unnamed sources and nfl personnel" people claiming that Pep is not worth big money and take plays off, well these men never had to go up against Pep. All you need to do is read the article in the Charlotte Observer written right before the super bowl, quoting all the Saint players on how much they want to see Pep leave. They quote O-linmean saying how the Panthers would be foolish not to give him anything he wants. These aare people who go up against him twice a year and spend hours game planning around him. Not to mention that they are the Super Bowl Champs and they are speaking so highly about him.

When John Fox came in back in 2002 he said that he was going to build this team through the trenches. He wanted to have a strong o-line and d-line. Well letting a guy go who has recored 81 sacks in 8 years or whatever it has been, while you do not have one other person on the roster who has ever recorded 10 in a single season, does not make too much sense to me.

Then you have people saying Jerry Richardson is being financially responsible with his money and how it is principle and he does not want to spend over the salary cap because he does not agree with it. What is that BS. He should have one thing on his mind and that is to win a super bowl, and if that is not his goal sell the damn team. People bash the Yankees for spending irrespoinsibly and take advantage of smaller market teams, well look at how many championships that franchise has. If the Carolina Panthers had 27 Super Bowls I would be pretty damn happy. I am just enraged how this all played out, and blame this solely on management.

There are instances all the time where players want out and say they will never play for a team again, but they end up staying. Look at the situation of Lance Briggs and Chad Ochocinco. Both players wanted out and said they would never play for there respected teams again and now they are as happy as can be. So no I do not blame Peppers on this because players all the time come out and say the things and do the things Julius did. Just in the other situations other team's management and owners handled it much better.

Julius Peppers was our first real chance at getting a true Panther into the hall of fame and now we will have to wait even longer. As much as I love Smitty he is no sure thing, ecspecially if you look at the WR still not in. Everyone wants to claim they Jerry Richardson is such a great owner well I am still waiting for that Super Bowl he promised me and the rest of the fans in the first 15 years. And it actually was not a promise it was a guarantee. If Jerry Richardson keeps being cheap and playing by the rules we may be waiting another 15 years. Hopefully he reads this and takes my advice and has a conversation with the Steinbrenner family and they can teach him a thing or two about winning.

[coxc63]

After todays monumental mess up by the Panther's front office, it is time to look at what is next. With Peppers contract coming off the books and most likely declining the option on Kemo, we should be a player in free agency. I believe the first thing we need to do is bring back Davis, that should be priority number one. I beleive we need to cut ties with aging veterans such as Moose and Vincent, and let younger player step up and fill their positions. We need to allow Jarrett to take over for Moose, and have Duke Robinson replace Vincent. We will never know what we have unless we throw them out into the fire to prove themselves.

Now with Jarrett taking over at the number 2 WR, we should go hard after Steve Breaston who would be perefect as a slot reciever. After those moves I would feel really comfortable with our offense.

Moore-Williams-Stewart-Hoover-Smith-Jarrett-Breaston-King/Rosario/Barnidge-Gross-Wharton-Kalil-Robinson-Otah

We have a nice young nucleus of Moore, Williams, and Stewart. We bring in that WR faster then Smith in Breaston, and have a top 3 young O-Line in the league.

Next with the defense, I am very concerned how they are going to perform without Peppers. I just do not see Vanden Bosch or Kampman being that much of an improvement over Johnson or Brown. I think we should bring back Brayton, and hope a rotation of Brayton, Johnson, and Brown can work out. At DT, I am a huge fan of Louis Leonard and want to see him start. I also really like how Lewis stepped up and became a leader this year, and would not mind keeping him on for another year.

A line of Brayton-Lewis-Leonard-Brown/Johnson can hopefully be servicable and just have to come to accept the Dline can no longer be the strength of this defense.

I am also fine with Davis-Beason-Diggs-Gamble-Harris-Godfrey-Marshall and beleive we can find way to create pressure with our linebackers. All in all I do have faith in the PLAYERS on this team, and hope our front office can wake up and make the right moves.

I believe that Dan Connor should start in front of Diggs in 2010, he was a beast at Penn State and we haven't given him the opportunity to prove if he is worth being a starter or not. On the offensive side of the ball Gary Barnidge should start at the TE position with King and Rosario the no. 2 and 3 guys. (I put King as the no. 2 solely on the fact that he is the better blocker than Rosario).

[methodtoll]

The Panthers absolutly should have placed the tag on Pep. Yes, the tag will cost 21 mil but it is an uncapped year. You would not be crippling the roster by placing the tag on him, like we did last year. Julius Peppers is a once in a generation talent, and I just cannot agree with anyone who does not think he is the best player to ever put on a Carolina Panthers uniform. I can see people arguing Steve Smith, but it is outrageous that any list has Sam Mills ranked ahead of him. Julius Peppers has ben apart of 5 pro bowls with this team, and was thought of so highly he was elected to the all decade team.

You have all these "unnamed sources and nfl personnel" people claiming that Pep is not worth big money and take plays off, well these men never had to go up against Pep. All you need to do is read the article in the Charlotte Observer written right before the super bowl, quoting all the Saint players on how much they want to see Pep leave. They quote O-linmean saying how the Panthers would be foolish not to give him anything he wants. These aare people who go up against him twice a year and spend hours game planning around him. Not to mention that they are the Super Bowl Champs and they are speaking so highly about him.

When John Fox came in back in 2002 he said that he was going to build this team through the trenches. He wanted to have a strong o-line and d-line. Well letting a guy go who has recored 81 sacks in 8 years or whatever it has been, while you do not have one other person on the roster who has ever recorded 10 in a single season, does not make too much sense to me.

Then you have people saying Jerry Richardson is being financially responsible with his money and how it is principle and he does not want to spend over the salary cap because he does not agree with it. What is that BS. He should have one thing on his mind and that is to win a super bowl, and if that is not his goal sell the damn team. People bash the Yankees for spending irrespoinsibly and take advantage of smaller market teams, well look at how many championships that franchise has. If the Carolina Panthers had 27 Super Bowls I would be pretty damn happy. I am just enraged how this all played out, and blame this solely on management.

There are instances all the time where players want out and say they will never play for a team again, but they end up staying. Look at the situation of Lance Briggs and Chad Ochocinco. Both players wanted out and said they would never play for there respected teams again and now they are as happy as can be. So no I do not blame Peppers on this because players all the time come out and say the things and do the things Julius did. Just in the other situations other team's management and owners handled it much better.

Julius Peppers was our first real chance at getting a true Panther into the hall of fame and now we will have to wait even longer. As much as I love Smitty he is no sure thing, ecspecially if you look at the WR still not in. Everyone wants to claim they Jerry Richardson is such a great owner well I am still waiting for that Super Bowl he promised me and the rest of the fans in the first 15 years. And it actually was not a promise it was a guarantee. If Jerry Richardson keeps being cheap and playing by the rules we may be waiting another 15 years. Hopefully he reads this and takes my advice and has a conversation with the Steinbrenner family and they can teach him a thing or two about winning.

BUT Peppers doesn't make the team... It takes more then just one player to do that and the money should be used on a team as a WHOLE not for one player... That just adds negativity to the roster, IMO because then the players are going to question it.

I will bet ya that our defense will be fine without Peppers, we have so much young talent on of the defensive line (with the exception of Kemo and Lewis) and honestly, I think it will make the team better because it will give these young guys a chip on their shoulder to play great

Again, one player does not make or break this team