4 months after the Panthers gave Julius Peppers his franchise tag he finally signed. Peppers made it clear that he did not want to play for the Panthers in 09 and sat out of every offseason practice. Today (Wednesday) he signed the 16.7 million one year deal, but could not come to terms on a long-term deal. Peppers made it clear that if he signed the tender that he wanted to be traded, after a lot of talking about him going to teams like the Patriots and Cowboys nothing ever came of it.
The Panthers could still trade him before the start of the season, actually now that he signed the Panthers could talk directly to teams with out going through Peppers agent. Although I don’t see the Panthers doing that, I think that they would rather keep one of the best pass rushers in the league on their roster.
“Over the past few months, we have had regular communication with Carl Carey, Julius' representative, and all indications were that Julius would be signed to report to training camp,” Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said in a statement released by the team.
“Julius obviously is a very valuable member of our team, and we look forward to the 2009 season.”
Julius Peppers who is a 4 time pro-bowler out of 7 seasons. He leads the franchise in sacks with 70.5 and 24 forced fumbles and 8 blocked kicks. Peppers played every game last season and had 14.5 sacks along with 51 tackles. His 14.5 sacks last season tied the record for the second highest in a single season in Panthers history. His record ties Kevin Greene who also had 14.5 in 1996. Greene also holds the franchise record with 15 sacks which he got in 1998.
Comments
I hope the panthers trade Julius peppers for a 1st round pick in next years draft. I would rather get a draft pick for him then nothing. I think Charles Johnson would be able to step in and be a good DE. Julius Peppers use to be my favorite panther but now i cant stand him my new favorite panther is either deangelo williams or steve smith.
It would be stupid for the panthers 2 change there 4-3 def to a 3-4 because all of there players are use to the 4-3. they built this def for the 4-3 def they reason they got jon beason is because he said he played in the 4-3 def forever and he knows it really good. If they changed to 3-4 jon beason might become a bad player.
I agree in saying that I have lost a lot of respect for Julius Peppers. He doesn't seem like he has his mind on performing this season, so I am not sure why we should keep him around. He has always been my favorite player on the team by far, because of his performance, as well as his modesty. He seems to have lost that modesty lately. He thought so highly of himself that he would surely get picked up on an agent deal by another team, even though several coaches, including Belechick, suggested he sign the deal before they'd be interested in a trade. Hopefully he won't under-perform this season and throw that cool 16 million down the drain. Steve Smith is just a jerk. That is a fact. He's an amazing athlete, but as a person off the field, he's just a punk to fans.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!