Julius Peppers, now thats worth breaking the bank!

The guy has one bad year on a really bad team and everyone wants to remove the talent level from the previous years in which we all could argue he was one of the most dominate forces in the game. Almost all great athletes have 1-2 bad years in them. At 27-28 this guy didn’t just forget how to play football, come on!

Also, it is to our advantage that he had a bad year as his stock, and contract negotiation powers have dropped slightly, otherwise Carolina wouldn’t be willing to deal him.

He might need a change of scenery. But in order to trade for him we're going to have to give up our first round pick and maybe another pick on top of that one. Plus he's probably going to want a new deal. So I ask you is it worth it? I say it 's just too risky.

We've already tried to FA route for several years and it never really works. I like the appoach we're taking this year and I hope we keep it up in the future.

The guy has one bad year on a really bad team and everyone wants to remove the talent level from the previous years in which we all could argue he was one of the most dominate forces in the game. Almost all great athletes have 1-2 bad years in them. At 27-28 this guy didn’t just forget how to play football, come on!

Also, it is to our advantage that he had a bad year as his stock, and contract negotiation powers have dropped slightly, otherwise Carolina wouldn’t be willing to deal him.

Yet he apparently wants to be the highest paid defensive player in the league (or very close). As we all know by now, the problem with trading for players are that you end up with someone another team didn't want, presumably for some reason (I've heard some things about attitude and desire being an issue for Peppers in Carolina, but I'm not in the locker room); you give up picks that can turn into productive players (when the Skins trade picks people say 'why did they trade that pick', when they don't trade picks then we have threads saying 'why aren't they trading their picks'?); draft picks are cheaper than giving older players big contracts; if you miss on a 2nd round pick you can get rid of that player with pretty minimal cap implications, if you give Julius Peppers $30 million guaranteed and he doesn't work out you are in a bind.

Plus, just look at some 2nd and 3rd round picks in previous years. I know it is hard to fathom now that anyone outside of the top 10 on Mel Kiper's Big Board will ever be a productive player, but every year guys from these rounds turn into some of the better players in the NFL.


2006

Demeco Ryans (2nd Round; 2006 DROY; 2007 Pro Bowl)
Marcus McNeill (2nd Round)
Greg Jennings (2nd Round)
Maurice Jones-Drew (2nd Round)
Brandon Marshall (4th Round; with one of Washington's picks)2005

Lofa Tatupu (2nd Round)
Frank Gore (3rd Round)
Justin Tuck (3rd Round)
Marion Barber (4th Round)
Brandon Jacobs (4th Round)
Trent Cole (5th Round; with one of Washington's picks)2004

Karlos Dansby (2nd Round)
Bob Sanders (2nd Round)
Darnell Dockett (3rd Round)
Bernard Berrian (3rd Round)
Chris Cooley (3rd Round)
Matt Schaub (3rd Round)
Jared Allen (4th Round)
D.J. Hackett (5th Round)2003

Rashean Mathis (2nd Round)
Anquan Boldin (2nd Round)
Osi Umenyiora (2nd Round)
Lance Briggs (3rd Round)
Jason Witten (3rd Round)
Asante Samuel (4th Round)Obviously there are often more hits than misses, but let's give the draft a chance rather than abandoning this strategy and throwing picks and tons of money at guys before we even try to build through the draft. Come on.

defintely worth looking into. sometimes good players lose motivation when their teams sucks. i'd bet his performance this past year was an aberration. with carter on the opposite end and maybe a hotshot 1st round pick in the middle, our front 4 could be playing at a whole new level next year. i think peppers is an intriguing prospect.

HOWEVER, what would we have to lose for him? i don't mid taking his contract and coughing up a second rounder, personally.
I'm sorry good players do not slack off because they are playing for a bad team and if thats the case with him then he needs to stay in NC. This thread is based off an article where someone saw him at a basketball game in Denver.

The guy has one bad year on a really bad team and everyone wants to remove the talent level from the previous years in which we all could argue he was one of the most dominate forces in the game. Almost all great athletes have 1-2 bad years in them. At 27-28 this guy didn’t just forget how to play football, come on!

Also, it is to our advantage that he had a bad year as his stock, and contract negotiation powers have dropped slightly, otherwise Carolina wouldn’t be willing to deal him.

Well your basing this thread of one bad report who said he saw Peppers at a basketball game in Denver.

I thought I heard there were a lot of Peppers to the Vikings rumors as well, which would just be sick. The Vikings as is are looking pretty good going into 2008

I'm sorry good players do not slack off because they are playing for a bad team and if thats the case with him then he needs to stay in NC. This thread is based off an article where someone saw him at a basketball game in Denver.

Okay so what your telling me is that Defensive Players are supposed to shine on bad teams, and that great athletes never have bad seasons and rebound? My opinion is that Defense in the NFL is a team sport and if your teammates aren’t playing well, your numbers will drop. They were middle of the pack last year but trying to support a 29th ranked O that couldn’t stay on the field.

I will clearly state that 95% of the time I have a draft driven opinion and I have been truly upset with the amount of free agents that have been brought onto the team over the past few years, and enjoy the new approach. It is apparent from the article that Peppers is being shopped and I don’t see why we wouldn’t "possibly" entertain the idea as the majority of us have stated clearly that DE is our biggest need. I wouldn’t be upset if we perused him and the price was wrong, but I would be mad if he ended up on a team for a crazy cheap price, i.e. Randy Moss last year.

I say we just leave our options open on this and see what they may want. I do understand being optimistic and pick/trade stingy as that’s my general rule of thumb.

I thought I heard there were a lot of Peppers to the Vikings rumors as well, which would just be sick. The Vikings as is are looking pretty good going into 2008

They sure are looking good, possibly a good QB, or average play with little turnovers from Jackson, to making a run. I see them in the second round of the playoffs this year.

Yet he apparently wants to be the highest paid defensive player in the league (or very close). As we all know by now, the problem with trading for players are that you end up with someone another team didn't want, presumably for some reason (I've heard some things about attitude and desire being an issue for Peppers in Carolina, but I'm not in the locker room); you give up picks that can turn into productive players (when the Skins trade picks people say 'why did they trade that pick', when they don't trade picks then we have threads saying 'why aren't they trading their picks'?); draft picks are cheaper than giving older players big contracts; if you miss on a 2nd round pick you can get rid of that player with pretty minimal cap implications, if you give Julius Peppers $30 million guaranteed and he doesn't work out you are in a bind.

Plus, just look at some 2nd and 3rd round picks in previous years. I know it is hard to fathom now that anyone outside of the top 10 on Mel Kiper's Big Board will ever be a productive player, but every year guys from these rounds turn into some of the better players in the NFL.


2006

Demeco Ryans (2nd Round; 2006 DROY; 2007 Pro Bowl)
Marcus McNeill (2nd Round)
Greg Jennings (2nd Round)
Maurice Jones-Drew (2nd Round)
Brandon Marshall (4th Round; with one of Washington's picks)2005

Lofa Tatupu (2nd Round)
Frank Gore (3rd Round)
Justin Tuck (3rd Round)
Marion Barber (4th Round)
Brandon Jacobs (4th Round)
Trent Cole (5th Round; with one of Washington's picks)2004

Karlos Dansby (2nd Round)
Bob Sanders (2nd Round)
Darnell Dockett (3rd Round)
Bernard Berrian (3rd Round)
Chris Cooley (3rd Round)
Matt Schaub (3rd Round)
Jared Allen (4th Round)
D.J. Hackett (5th Round)2003

Rashean Mathis (2nd Round)
Anquan Boldin (2nd Round)
Osi Umenyiora (2nd Round)
Lance Briggs (3rd Round)
Jason Witten (3rd Round)
Asante Samuel (4th Round)Obviously there are often more hits than misses, but let's give the draft a chance rather than abandoning this strategy and throwing picks and tons of money at guys before we even try to build through the draft. Come on.

Brandon Marshall looks like he's on the cusp of becoming a superstar. Reminds me of a young TO w/out the drama. I'd sure like to have him wearing b&g.

I thought I heard there were a lot of Peppers to the Vikings rumors as well, which would just be sick. The Vikings as is are looking pretty good going into 2008

You think so? IMO it's not going to matter as long as they have no QB. Do you know if they were trying to trade for Sage Rosenfelds?

I absolutely want him. He is not a leader or a self motivating player, but he is a dominant force. During the Pussycats heyday Minter pushed every player on that D to play harder. Losing Minter last year hurt him because he needs to be led and motivated. Coach Blache, Fletcher, Springs, Daniels and Washington won't let him slack. Ever. This would be the greatest signing ever!
I would absolutely trade at least two 2nd rounders and possibly add a 6 or 7 to it for him.
The question is, how do we afford him? I think he absolutely worth $7mil/yr. But how do we afford it?