Panthers Ready to let Peppers walk: Go Get him TT

[LarryHarris]

From ESPN.com: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4875540

The agent for Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers is convinced the five-time Pro Bowl pick will play elsewhere next season.

Carl Carey said Sunday night the Panthers have "not made a single inquiry this offseason" regarding the impending unrestricted free agent.

"And we don't expect to hear from them," Carey told The Associated Press in a phone interview, setting the stage for Peppers to become one of the top defensive players to hit the market in years ahead of a potential season without a salary cap.

He would be perfect moving into the role Kampman played last year. This move would be akin to picking up Reggie White when the Packers were on the way to becoming a powerhouse. We have a promising team with a base 3-4. Peppers should be interested. I am HOPING...

[an_also]

Can he even fit into a 3-4? The last thing we need is an overpaid player who sucks in this scheme

[chuckleslove]

We definitely have money to spend. I know prior to last season Peppers said he wanted to move to a team with a 3-4 defense and play OLB in a 3-4 rather than DE in a 4-3. I have to imagine with how well our team performed, our defensive scheme and all of that he would at least consider GB as a legit destination and a good fit for himself.

Ultimately it will be determined if TT thinks he is a good fit for the team and if the price is right but it seems like a no brainer to me. Would definitely give us another guy with a serious motor to line up across from Clay.

[chuckleslove]

Can he even fit into a 3-4? The last thing we need is an overpaid player who sucks in this scheme

As I wrote in my post while you were responding, last year before the season he explicitly stated he wanted to move to OLB in a 3-4 scheme. The only reason he stayed with Carolina is that they hit him with the franchise tag and he made near 20 million this last year because of that.

[ReasonablySober]

He wants to move to a 3-4, but the question is whether or not he can play in it.

[Ryan5UW]

Yeah, just because he wants to play in a 3-4 doesn't mean he can. I think this would be a bad move - for the $$$$$ he's going to want, I would definitely pass. Give Jones a shot and/or bring in someone who we know can either play in it because they have already or draft someone who fits the position.

No thanks!

[MickeyDavis]

Huge money for a guy who is very good but also is known to take games off. And playing in a different scheme adds to the risk.

[PkrsBcksGphsMqt]

I'm kind of 50/50 on this move. If we could get him for a reasonable deal with a lot of the money front loaded then I'd be in favor of it. If on the other hand we'd have to make him the highest paid LB in the league or close to it then I would want no part in it.

[an_also]

I know another packer fan on a different forum who lives in NC. He claims Peppers is really really lazy and takes a lot of plays/games off and only plays when he wants to. I dont know how true this is because i dont really watch too many Panther games.

[LUKE23]

It depends what we could get him for. I think he could play OLB personally.

[LarryHarris]

I played him a couple seasons in the 3-4 in Madden and he was great! =)

This is a guy who played football and basketball in college. His athleticism has always been top notch. He was DeMarcus Ware before Ware was, he just wasn't in the right system. I think he'd be a big improvement over Kampman, Jones, Thompson or anyone currently on the roster. The market won't be as big as the hope and I wouldn't mind seeing TT make a splash here...

[JHSFIVE]

Someone clarify,

Is the position we're talking about one that requires the player to occasionally drop in coverage?

if so, I've gone from 6:00 to midnight to about 9:30.

[Wade-A-Holic]

I've been advocating going after Peppers for a while. I doubt it happens, but I think he could be dynamic in this defense. He's big enough that you can play him with his hand in the dirt and I very much believe that he's a natural enough athlete to play standing up with relative ease, unlike Kampman who is sort of mechanical (albeit still very athletic).

[eagle13]

Since it looks to be an uncapped season, we could take a big hit this year with all the guaranteed $ this year and then only non-guaranteed $ on rest of contract.

Imagine signing both he & Kampman (won't happen) and on passing downs have -

DEs=Kamp & Pep
DT= Jenk & Raj
LB= Matt & Chill (both can both blitz & cover)
DB=5

in dime pull Raj or Chill

Pass rush fixed!

[LarryHarris]

Since it looks to be an uncapped season, we could take a big hit this year with all the guaranteed $ this year and then only non-guaranteed $ on rest of contract.

Imagine signing both he & Kampman (won't happen) and on passing downs have -

DEs=Kamp & Pep
DT= Jenk & Raj
LB= Matt & Chill (both can both blitz & cover)
DB=5

in dime pull Raj or Chill

Pass rush fixed!

The D you are talking about here wouldn't happen. The Packers have a base 3-4. It would look like this:

D-Line: Raji, Pickett, Jenkins
LBS: Peppers, Barnett, Matthews
DBs: 5

Peppers wouldn't be signed to play DE... he'd be a LB who sometimes played with his hands down...

[crkone]

I'm sure he wouldn't take plays off with Greene as his position coach.

[Wade-A-Holic]

Put Peppers on this defense and he becomes the guy other teams always have to account for. No more doubling or chipping on Matthews. Do that and draft a defensive lineman who can rush the passer and I believe we'd see a much more consistent, aggressive defense next season.

[Newz]

Put Peppers on this defense and he becomes the guy other teams always have to account for. No more doubling or chipping on Matthews. Do that and draft a defensive lineman who can rush the passer and I believe we'd see a much more consistent, aggressive defense next season.

3-4 linemen don't really rush the passer all that much, at least in terms of sacks...

Look at the Steelers (the 3-4 defense most want to copy). None of their DLs had more than 3 sacks last year.

[chuckleslove]

Yeah, in the 3-4 your 3 lineman are responsible to just eat up and occupy the offensive line, then you bring whatever random combination of linebackers you want on any given play. It is why the 3-4 is known to keep offenses guessing, you can bring pressure from any of the linebackers on any given play and mix it up and keep them on their toes. If you can have your 3 defensive lineman account for 4 offensive lineman then you are really going to have something special, especially once you start having a guy like Peppers and Matthews coming off of either end.

[ReasonablySober]

Darnell Docket had 7 sacks this year. Luis Castillo had 7 a couple years ago. Richard Seymour had 8 in his last year in NE. No, you usually won't see a 3-4 DE rack up double digit sacks. But I think it's important to have a threat to get to the QB on the line. They don't all have to be big 330 lb run stoppers.