NE39

Would have been nice to have Deion when they blew that big lead against Indy in the playoffs that season. Maybe Peyton Manning would still be waiting for a Super Bowl ring.

I still think that was an amazing season by Brady. His numbers weren't great, but he brought the Pats to the brink of a Super Bowl throwing to guys who they brought in off the street. Pretty amazing.

mayoclinic

Here's Vic Carucci's latest take on the Peppers situation, for whatever it's worth:

Five surprising decisions that weren't made during draft weekend

"Peppers supposedly isn't any happier to be a Panther than he was a couple of months ago. The star defensive end supposedly wants to be traded, and there was at least one team anxious to get him: the New England Patriots. But Peppers gummed up the process by refusing to sign the one-year franchise tender offer the Panthers presented to him. If he did, the Panthers could have attempted to work a trade, although they have insisted all along that Peppers would remain with the team. Another team could have offered Peppers a contract, but then it would have owed the Panthers two first-round draft picks if Carolina didn't match it. Or Peppers' agent could have brokered a trade and taken it back to the Panthers, but that never happened. Peppers' refusal to sign the tender is bizarre, considering he stands to receive nearly $17 million for one season. If he's determined to receive a contract like the record-breaking, seven-year, $100 million package (including $41 million in guaranteed cash) that Albert Haynesworth got from the Washington Redskins, he probably isn't being realistic. Another team isn't likely to pay that to a defensive lineman, and the market for Peppers, whom the Patriots would convert from a 4-3 end to a 3-4 outside linebacker, is more along the lines of the six-year, $51.75 million contract (including $20 million in bonuses) that the Pittsburgh Steelers gave to standout outside linebacker James Harrison."

If Peppers were willing to play for a Harrison-like contract and wanted to make this work out, then it could be feasible. But pretty unlikely right now.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

BelichickFan

I have a feeling that when Belichick brought Peppers up voluntarily without being asked a while back and said that nothing could happen until he signed the Franchise Tender that he was talking to Peppers and his agent - but to no avail.

mayoclinic

I think the message was loud and clear - if Peppers wanted anything to happen involving the Pats, he had to sign the tag and let the Pats work something out with Carolina. The fact that he didn't do so suggests that either he isn't interested in the Pats, or is pretty dense.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

Clonamery

Either way it's a reason to move on.

__________________
Paul Brown: A winner never whines.

PatsDparty

Even though BB doesn't want to negotiate through an agent, doesn't mean he can't call him up on the phone and say sign the tender, and then we'll talk.

I'm tired of hearing about this until/unless something happens. There might be other teams interested in Peppers, and he doesn't want Carolina to be able to just ship him off to some team he doesn't want to play for, even though if he wants to be a Patriot, he'll have to sign.

VJCPatriot

Unless he signs the tender, please let this thread die already...

__________________

MoLewisrocks

Gotta love Vic - can't let go of his initial premise which will neither be debunked nor proven to be factual until or unless Michael Holley pens a sequel. And if it then appears to debunk it that will be categorized as revisionist (bs) history...

When Vic was on WEEI Monday it was pretty clear he has no idea what is going on with Peppers beyond the fact he was tagged and supposedly whispered something about 3-4 teams in Mort's ear. I don't doubt Vic talked to someone in the Pats FO when that first came to light and that someone probably said who wouldn't be interested. Thing is that person was not necessarily BB. Within a FO there is seldom unanimous agreement on what a team could, would or should do. But at the end of the day in this one ultimately the decision resonates only in one man's voice. I don't even doubt he'd have wanted to at least kick those tires...but the player didn't make 'em fully available for kicking by signing his tender. And all the while Carolina has contended in vain that they want to retain the player long term. They clearly don't see a franchise tag as an inevitible means to an ending. They tagged Gross in 2008 and signed him long term on the eve of FA the following season...

Maybe they know something about Julius that everyone else has missed. That the young man doesn't really know what he wants...