Tucker's ‘Spicy Peppers' Post Hard to Swallow

  I don't usually take issue with journalists that make a few mistakes in their Panthers analysis but in SI.com Ross Tuckers case his "Spicy Peppers' post was too much to ignore. I'm not going to say the whole post was bunk but several of his premises were way off base if not just confusing or ambiguous. Let's start with this cryptic swipe at Julius Peppers agent Carl Carey:

I had never heard of Carey, and based on his handling of the Pepper's situation thus far, I think I understand why.

The tone is that he has handled it poorly but I can't agree with that. If Carey's intent is to get more money, as Tucker later suggests, well the Panthers have already offered to make him the highest paid defender in the league. Otherewise I'm not sure what he means. I do agree with part of the next statement:

This, to me, has everything to do with money and nothing to do with the style of defense in Carolina. Hence the need to include all the 3-4 teams as possibilities. It gives them more potential suitors.

Throwing out the 3-4 defense preference does include more teams as potential bidders but I still think he does want a new style of defense, just not necessarily a 3-4. I still have a hard time thinking this is about getting more money. I have an even harder time with this statement:

My guess is that Peppers' camp is weary of having the franchise tag placed on him by the Panthers, so they chose to fire a pre-emptive strike. The tag would only be about $17 million and would preclude him from getting a long-term deal with significantly more guaranteed money.

Weary of being tagged? Has Peppers been tagged before? I'm not recalling that. Also, only $17 million? Word is he is looking for $20M guaranteed and $50M+ total. Okay lets do the math...get $17M in one year or maybe $20M over 5 (guaranteed $ in case of injury). Isn't this why most lottery winners chose the lump sum option?

I'll give Tucker props for a nice close though:

I certainly hope Peppers and Carey get whatever it is they are looking for. I just wonder if it's worth alienating his home state and the Panthers in the process.

How very true. He's a folk hero in the Carolina's and can really not do much wrong. You can bet though if he goes to a big time market like NY, Boston or LA the expectations would be sky high and he would find his new fan base a lot less forgiving than in Charlotte. Given Peppers fragile psyche I bet he would crumble in the face of mounting criticism when he gets blamed for not doing more to earn his big price tag. Peppers needs to think long and hard before he opens Pandora's box and destroys his pedestal standing in Carolina.