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With the Julius Peppers trade rumors swirling again, I'm a little concerned right now that trading for Peppers might be a bad overall sign of the future for the Pats, based on 2 things:
1. Age. With the Taylor, Galloway and Springs signings, it seems like there is more of a short-term focus than in years past. Is BB reving up for a 2-3 year run as his last hurrah? In that case, it would make sense to go for the 29 year old Peppers rather than a younger but potentially longer-term OLB solution through the draft.
2. Salary cap. While the FO has done an amazing job of filling holes in FA so far, I can't help but wonder how they are making it all fit under the cap. Squeezing Peppers in would be a major feat. Floyd Reese was the guy who dealt with all those Tennessee contracts which ended up putting them in major cap trouble in 2006. Are we potentially setting ourselves up for long-term salary cap hell? Again, if BB is looking at the next 2-3 years as his swan song then it would make sense to do this kind of move; we could always franchise Wilfork and possibly Seymour or Mankins (in an uncapped year) to keep the core together. But if we are looking at keeping at a SB contender level for the next 5-10 years, would we be selling out the future to pay for someone like Peppers?
I hope I'm being paranoid about this.
1. Age. With the Taylor, Galloway and Springs signings, it seems like there is more of a short-term focus than in years past. Is BB reving up for a 2-3 year run as his last hurrah? In that case, it would make sense to go for the 29 year old Peppers rather than a younger but potentially longer-term OLB solution through the draft.
2. Salary cap. While the FO has done an amazing job of filling holes in FA so far, I can't help but wonder how they are making it all fit under the cap. Squeezing Peppers in would be a major feat. Floyd Reese was the guy who dealt with all those Tennessee contracts which ended up putting them in major cap trouble in 2006. Are we potentially setting ourselves up for long-term salary cap hell? Again, if BB is looking at the next 2-3 years as his swan song then it would make sense to do this kind of move; we could always franchise Wilfork and possibly Seymour or Mankins (in an uncapped year) to keep the core together. But if we are looking at keeping at a SB contender level for the next 5-10 years, would we be selling out the future to pay for someone like Peppers?
I hope I'm being paranoid about this.