Internal struggles regarding Peppers?

[Cyclonus]

I'm thinking of a certain wide receiver who won't like it too much.

What the.......? What would Steve Smith have to do with it? You think he would be mad because Peppers is making $17 million? If Peppers stays, he will be accepted. Steve Smith broke someones nose and was still accepted by the team. poo happens.

EDIT: Poo? Did I really just get my word changed to poo by the filter? Is crap too much to ask for? I would never say poo!

[mountainpantherfan]

I've never been a big fan of Peppers and was among the very few that were calling for his trade last offseason. But this is a different situation. To me if all we can get out of Peppers is a 2nd round pick then it would be better to just keep him for this season.

Idea: Panthers remove the franchise tag from Peppers and signs him to a one-year, more cap friendly contract. In exchange for the more cap friendly contract the Panthers will give Peppers the gaurntee that he will not be tagged again in 2010, the possible uncapped season.

[Fireball77]

^^^

That would be the best scenario IF they can't trade him, IMO.

[Mr. Scot]

Put me in the camp that says, eventually, he is gone. I want to see a reasonable deal in place, even if it means less than two first rounders. One second rounder is not reasonable, in my opinion.

One of Marty Hurney's biggest strengths has been that he has generally refrained from getting into pissing contests with players and agents. That's one reason why I'm hoping, in the end, that cooler heads prevail.

My read on how the struggle breaks down is as follows:

Leader of the "keep him at all costs" faction: John Fox

Willing to trade him, but only for good value: Marty Hurney

Could be wrong, but given their respective history, that's how I see it. I've also begun to suspect that it was Fox, not Hurney, who adamantly opposed giving up Kris Jenkins.

[Woodie]

I'm guilty of that with my teams, so I can't fault Panthers fans for it. As an impartial observer, I'm telling you guys...unless Peppers has gone to Fox and Hurney behind his agent's back, and I seriously doubt that since this guy has taken care of Pep's finances and been like a father to him, Pep's not playing in Carolina next year. You don't go public with your desire to play elsewhere unless that is exactly what you want to do.

As for all of this talk about Trgovac...who decided to put Pep at left defensive end instead of right, where most pass rushers play? Fox. Who controls the defense to the point of sitting in on defensive meetings? Fox. Who does everything so conservatively that it drives fans, and players, crazy? Fox.

I agree that pep really wants out. And I also agree that he will do anything he can to force his way out...up to a point. I don't see him ever going Randy Moss or T.O. on us since that is not his personality or style, not to mention it would bring too much unwanted attention.

If the Panthers do not trade him, I don't see him signing his tender until the last minute, and skipping all the mini-camps and OTA's. However, I do believe that he would begrudgingly play out the year if he had to. And I think he would play just like his usual self. If for no other reason than self-interest. Holding out or half-assing it would only hurt his stock and earning potential.

[panthers55]

I've never been a big fan of Peppers and was among the very few that were calling for his trade last offseason. But this is a different situation. To me if all we can get out of Peppers is a 2nd round pick then it would be better to just keep him for this season.

Idea: Panthers remove the franchise tag from Peppers and signs him to a one-year, more cap friendly contract. In exchange for the more cap friendly contract the Panthers will give Peppers the gaurntee that he will not be tagged again in 2010, the possible uncapped season.

I would only do that if we can't get anything of value for him in a trade. I would agree that if he is still with us I see that as a good strategy since we get cap relief and he gets a guarantee he can leave next year.

[Samuel L. Jackson]

Put me in the camp that says, eventually, he is gone. I want to see a reasonable deal in place, even if it means less than two first rounders. One second rounder is not reasonable, in my opinion.

Correct... in a way... Eventually he will be gone.. IF someone makes a reasonable offer, he'll be gone this year... If not, he'll be in the same situation next season...

One of Marty Hurney's biggest strengths has been that he has generally refrained from getting into pissing contests with players and agents. That's one reason why I'm hoping, in the end, that cooler heads prevail.

They will prevail.. Marty is a businessman, but he isn't an idiot...

Leader of the "keep him at all costs" faction: John Fox

Not the leader, but a key voice...

Willing to trade him, but only for good value: Marty Hurney

Correct, in a way... Marty doesn't want to, but is willing.. again, it's all in what the offer would be...

[Sam Mills Fan]

I would rather trade him for a second-rounder only if the alternative was to have 2007 Peppers play this year for us. I have a feeling he'll come down with another mysterious ailment before the start of the season.

[Udogg]

His franchise number goes way down next year unless someone gives another DE a huge contract.

[Skew]

His franchise number goes way down next year unless someone gives another DE a huge contract.

Not true. It will go up by about 15-20% if we franchise him again.

[Matt Foley]

I'm not sold on Pep playing if he's back in Carolina. He doesn't need the money. He has other interests. He's not one of those guys who loves football with every ounce of his being. To me this is the wildcard that Carl Carey holds. I could be wrong, but knowing Pep as I do (we're not buds or anything, but he was always nice to me and worked with me whenever I asked), that's my take.

[panthers55]

I'm not sold on Pep playing if he's back in Carolina. He doesn't need the money. He has other interests. He's not one of those guys who loves football with every ounce of his being. To me this is the wildcard that Carl Carey holds. I could be wrong, but knowing Pep as I do (we're not buds or anything, but he was always nice to me and worked with me whenever I asked), that's my take.

And if that were the case then his career is essentially finished. I could live with that. If we can't have him at least we don't have to play against him either. If he walks away from that kind of money he would be unique but Barry Sanders did something similarly a number of years ago.

[Woodie]

I would only do that if we can't get anything of value for him in a trade. I would agree that if he is still with us I see that as a good strategy since we get cap relief and he gets a guarantee he can leave next year.

The thing is that I don't know if there is anyone the team really wants in FA, other than a couple of depth players. And they can get the money for them, as well as for signing the rookies, by restructuring Smith and extending Jake. So I don't know that the team feels they need to get cap space right now. I'm sure they would love to get more since it would allow them extend some other key players that will soon be coming up for FA themselves, but as for this year, I don't know that there is much urgency. So I don't see why we would give Peppers the ability to leave next year without compensation when we really don't have to.

[Mr. Scot]

My read is more Ricky Williams than Barry Sanders (not drugs, just an off-kilter personality).

I'll be interested to see if any wheeling and dealing is done at next week's owners meetings.