Rob0729

I think the signing the tender thing is overrated only because the league is going through the motions to not give the NFLPA any ammo to get rid of the franchise tag when the new CBA negotiations are started. I think Cassel may be the first free agent to ever sign the tender long before he was traded. Jared Allen didn't sign anything until he was traded to the Vikes last year. The Pats traded Tebucky Jones without him signing his tender.

The teams can't talk to each other until the franchised player signs their tender is like saying teams can't negotiate with free agents until midnight the first day of free agency. And all those dinners between GMs and agents at the combine are just social visits with no business being discussed.

mayoclinic

Maybe, but BB addressed this in a press conference a month ago and made it clear that he isn't willing to play that way. He pretty much said that if Peppers wants to get traded he should sign the tender and let the FO's work out a deal.

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Wheelssps

The amount of guaranteed money may very well have been a factor that I'm not remembering, but I do remember a BB comment to the effect that they couldn't break the rules of their salary structure for Adam (and as you point out the issue may have been some combination of guaranteed money and total salary), even though it represented a relatively small amount of money compared to salaries of other positions because then other players would all want their contracts done according to the "new rules".
Again you could be right that it was about guaranteed money, but BB still recognized that you can't deviate from your salary system in the short term and expect other guys to keep being happy with the "old rules".
It's kind of like the Prisioner's Dilemma, except this time it's getting players and agents to buy into the "Patriot's Way" of fair but generally undermarket deals. It only works if players and agents see everyone else being treated in the same way. The minute someone else is treated differently, other players and agents rightly say, "Hey! What about mine?"

Rob0729

Well, that is what he is saying publically. I think that is because there are marching orders from the league to not make it look like teams are violating the franchise tag rule which teams have been doing since it was implemented. In fact, many years it has been very blatantly done. I remember when the Bills traded Peerless Price to the Falcons, they didn't hide the fact that the two teams were negotiating a trade eventhough Price hadn't signed the tender. Price wanted to be traded though and wasn't going to file a grievance with the league.

Maybe Belichick was telling the truth when he spoke to WEEI or maybe he was just playing the game to make it look like he was going to follow the letter of the law. The only way we will know for sure is if the Pats and Panther work out a trade before Peppers signs his tender and he signs the tender on the day he is traded.

I admit I don't know if Belichick was telling the truth or playing the game. But based on virtually every other franchised player traded, signing the tender has never been a requirement to getting a trade done between two teams.

Rob0729

This year deviating from the salary system would not be wise, but next year if there is no cap is another story. I personally have never advocated to break from the Pats system of salaries for Peppers. I maintain that he may not be as much about the money as people think and may be more about getting out of Carolina and switching to the 3-4.

Synovia

Brady was the highest paid QB in the NFL for a time. Seymour, I'm pretty sure, IS the highest paid 3-4 DE in the NFL. Thomas probably was the highest paid 3-4 OLB until suggs got franchised and Harrison did his deal. Randy Moss surely breaks the salary structure.

tanked_as_usual

I could see it more if peppers was a proven 3-4 OLB......but he isn't

the pats can ill afford to back up the truck for peppers while wilfork,seymour,mankins are in a contract year..........regardless of a looming uncapped league.......belichik will still report back to kraft with a bottom line......

if he was OK with 8-9M per year, fine........but I will bet that he's looking to beat freeney $$$$

Rob0729

On a per year basis, Seymour was the highest paid defensive player in the NFL at the time he signed his contract. The Patriots hid the fact by averaging the final year of his existing contract (since he got part of a signing bonus that year although no increase in salary) into the figures bringing down the average per year.

Zeus

1. The Patriots won't break their salary structure for anyone. And they won't overpay in terms of valuable draft picks to compensate another team for a player.

2. If Peppers were solely concerned about money, he wouldn't be lobbying to switch from DE to OLB.

3. Peppers can flat out put the QB on his back.

It's a long shot but it's fun to talk about because NE hasn't had a pure pass rusher of this caliber arguably since Andre Tippett.

If Belichick likes the player and there's a deal to be had on his terms, he'll do it. If not, it's on to the next option.

Bobs My Uncle

I'm not sure why anyone would be concerned that BB would add someone at a ridiculous cost and thus upset the pat scale. That's simply not going to happen so the theme of the article is moot.

As for Peppers ..... he has turned a contract offer from Carolina that would have made him the highest paid defensive player in the league so, maybe "cashing in" isn't his # 1 priority as many seem to believe. Maybe, he justs wants to win a super bowl and maybe he just might take less $ in order to play on a team that gives him the best chance of doing so.

If Carolina wishes to trade Peppers and Peppers wishes to accept "less" $ to play for a top contender, and BB believes that adding Peppers at the cost to do so is warranted and doable cap wise, then I can't imagine why he wouldn't do so.