Peppers Signs Panthers Franchise Tender

Considering he was adamant about not signing a long term deal with Carolina before last season and this one. The he brings up the “I’m maxed out in this system…I should play somewhere else” jive. I was floored this morning when I read the part on yahoo sports where it states “…no longer opposed to discussing a long-term deal with the Panthers.” Really?!?!
I would like to think that it’s about more than the money, but at this point I’m not sure. Maybe all his buddies on defense have been raving about Meeks’ system. Maybe Meeks called him up personally (off the record). Maybe it was all just to see who would blink first, and the Panthers held steadfast.
If I’m not mistaken, I believe it was stated somewhere before that the Panthers already wanted to make him one of the, if not THE, highest paid DE in the NFL – but he didn’t want to stay in Carolina…and it “wasn’t about the money.” Psshhfftt.

(sorry if that sounded like a rant haha, too much coffee too soon…)

If anything his value is less at the moment given no other team was willing to pony up the price for him. I can’t see him having any more leverage as before. I bet he signs a very similar deal to what was offered prior to the ’08 season.

…but it was definitely a part of the story. For instance, we know Julius wants to be the highest-paid DE in the league…and probably the highest-paid defensive player, period. But, I think he also wants to play in a system and a scheme where he feels he can apply his athleticism in ways that Trgovac and Fox never chose to implement…or that he feels he just wasn’t able to do (for whatever reason) under their philosophy.

Up until the arrival of Ron Meeks and the buzz his style and approach to defense generated in Peppers’ fellow players…not to mention the new defensive line coach…and hopefully more of a willingness on Fox’s part to change what they’ve been doing these past couple of years on defense…I don’t think Peppers really had a sense that another long-term deal with Carolina would let him satisfy the second part of his goal…i.e., doing something more in line with his athleticism.

Let’s be honest with ourselves. Carolina really doesn’t blitz all that often. And perhaps worse, even when we don’t blitz, whatever technique or scheme we’ve been using really hasn’t generated much of a pass rush. Julius cannot do it alone. And yet, ever since the decline of Rucker’s health and eventual retirement, we’ve had nobody (and I mean nobody) who’s really lit it up from the other side of the line when it comes to pass-rushing. Nobody consistent, even though Charles Johnson showed pretty well in limited playing time last year.

But, if I were in Peppers’ shoes, I might feel the same way. Why stay here? Fox seems far too confident in his own defensive philsophy to change very much. It looked like we weren’t going to get rid of Trgovac (and in fact, we even offered the guy a contract extension and he had to be the one to decide to leave us).

So, until Meeks and the new defensive coaching staff got here…and the players (and through them, Julius) could get a sense of what was going to change…I don’t think Peppers had much incentive to stay. He thought he could get the same kind of money from another team…hopefully one where he’d have more support…both in terms of the other defensive personnel on the line as well as the coaching philosophy and scheme. Unfortunately for him, Fox and Hurney felt like they needed Peppers to sustain the core nucleus of our defense. So, they tagged him to prevent him from becoming a free agent. Peppers’ stock then fell as no other team was willing to pony up both the money and the draft picks to take him from us. And that’s how we find ourselves where we are now.

Peppers signed the franchise tender. He had to do it. He didn’t just do it for the money. That was part of it…sure. But it wasn’t the only part of it. And it probably wasn’t even the biggest part of it. I think once we called their bluff and they saw Peppers didn’t have the market value they thought he did (even under the franchise tag)…and once they saw what was happening in terms of the changes on the coaching staff and the commitment to bringing in someone like Everette Brown…all of that had to hit home. It opened Peppers up to not only sign the tender, but also to consider a long-term deal again.

Thus, when I read the statement released by his agent about Peppers having a more in-depth discussion with those he respected among the Panthers organization, I think that’s what made the extra difference. I think somebody (Fox? Hurney? Or maybe even the Big Cat himself?) sat down and laid out how important they believe Peppers can be to the team’s long-term success given the change in direction they’ve started on the defense with Meeks, Everette Brown, etc. And, I think they probably put their money where their mouths were and explained to Peppers what they’d be willing to do…i.e., maybe they franchise him again next year and let him accumulate the same $40+ million kind of money Haynesworth got…but in a different way?

But, I think the bottom line is Peppers had a change of perspective that came from a variety of things…1) He and his agent couldn’t secure the type of deal they thought Pep would command from anyone besides the Panthers, 2) The complete overhaul of the defensive coaching staff, 3) The acquisition of a pure pass-rusher like Everette Brown to give Pep some help, 4) The excitement generated among the defensive players about the changes in the schemes and emphasis on speed and “flying to the ball” installed by Meeks, and 5) The heart-to-heart discussion he had with the Panthers’ front office and how much he respects whatever they had to say to him.

So, is it a good thing that Peppers might want to sign a long-term deal after all? I don’t know. Let’s see what kind of effort he puts forth this season and go from there. In the meanwhile, he gets my support and endorsement as our starting DE…and I really do hope he has the best year ever as a Carolina Panther, both for his own personal success as well as the success of our team.

But that’s just my two-cents,
—Neil