Panthers Gross Has Something to Play for in This Pro Bowl

by Jaxon on Feb 8, 2009 12:22 PM EST Comment 11 comments

Panthers Pro Bowl LT Jordan Gross has something to play for today in the Pro Bowl. Unlike most of his teammates today Gross is hopefully in contract negotiations with the Panthers as I write this. If Gross has a big game it will give him more leverage to ask to be the highest paid LT in the league.

On the other hand if he has a bad game, it may give the Panthers more justification to low ball him. I can imagine that getting Gross signed it top priority for the Panthers, a notion so obvious it may be adding to the current stalemate. The fact Gross is still unsigned going into the Pro Bowl makes me wonder which side wanted to wait until after this game?

In my view Gross has nothing to gain from this game as left tackles are more likely to be noticed for a poor game than a good game. He will either line up across from Dwight Freeney or Mario Williams, more than likely Freeney. This is a good match-up for Gross since Freeney is no spring chicken and he is more of a speed rusher. Gross played well against the speed rushers this past season.

Though I think I've stated on this blog I wouldn't watch today's Pro Bowl I think I've just given myself a reason to watch at least the first half. I'm curious to see how Panthers prodigal son Julius Peppers does in his match-up with LT Joe Thomas. I'm not sure how I feel about that one; should Peppers play well it increases his trade value but for some reason I may find that hard to do.

If you hang around to the 2^nd half you'll see other Panthers Jon Beason and Steve Smith. I'm sure both will represent us well.

For those of you planning to watch the game, what are you hoping to see from our Panthers?

Let's now call this an open thread for the Pro Bowl:

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I find it impossible to believe that Pro Bowl performance has an impact on anything, unless a player gets injured. It’s an exhibition game. Low contact, all about offense, no one giving anywhere near a 100% effort. Has there been any historical record of a player, agent, or team mentioning a Pro Bowl performance as a catalyst in contract negotiations?

My guess would be that if either side were to bring up Pro Bowl stats or plays at the negotiating table, they would be laughed out of the room.

-Jonathan Hawkins
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by DaleCooper on Feb 8, 2009 3:28 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Welcome to the blog DaleCooper

Well played counter argument. I guess we will see if there is an impact or not shortly

I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com

by Jaxon on Feb 8, 2009 3:57 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

i agree with dale, but...

it’s possible that Peppers completely plays extremely great football or shows no effort at all, and I would think that may have an impact as his work ethic is in question when he’s looking at a $16 million year.

by usana_gaines on Feb 8, 2009 4:27 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Tuck and Peppers

Any chance we could steal Tuck from the Giants and make Peppers stay too?! They seem to work well together.

by JIMcK on Feb 8, 2009 5:48 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Jordan Gross had a pretty good game.

I really don’t think that anyone beat him today. Then again, you can’t blitz so it’s pretty easy to defend.

"Once again the trowsers of evil are yanked down by the mocking hands of justice!"-Revshawn

by Revshawn on Feb 8, 2009 8:25 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Missed it

Spent all day outside with my son. The first time in quite a while. When we came in we ate, he took a bath, read books, and went straight to bed.

But I’ve never watched it before so really don’t think I missed anything. :)

by LittleKing on Feb 8, 2009 8:55 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I had forgotten about the defensive rules

It really limits what the defense can do. So no you didn’t miss much. The Pep interview was good to watch but as Rev says, it continues to point him in another direction (and I’m still pissed about that)

I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com

by Jaxon on Feb 9, 2009 8:19 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

that's what i'm talking about

The Pro Bowl might not mean much for some guys in terms of contract talks, but Peppers knows all eyes are on him, so he has 4 tackles, a sack and an interception. Incredible game. So I don’t really know why he couldn’t get half that against the Cards, but if a GM was a little weary of Pep’s talent, it was on full display. However, I think scouts need to look at his game against the Cards and decide for themselves how much heart he has.

by usana_gaines on Feb 9, 2009 1:24 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

All Panthers played well

Smitty & Beason especially. Gross looked good and Pep looked awesome. That INT was a thing of beauty

I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com

by Jaxon on Feb 9, 2009 8:17 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Peppers only plays well when he wants to. Last year when Jake was out Peppers did just about nothing all season. That may just be my opinion, but he is worth keeping around.

by canescup on Feb 9, 2009 5:16 PM EST reply actions 0 recs