Breer on Julius Peppers

[BradyManny]

Interesting read from Breer, as usual:

Is Peppers another Reggie White?

Call me crazy, and I'm sure plenty will, but I'd rather pay big money to a player that is going to play 90% or greater of the snaps than one who is going to play 60% or less (ie, Big Vince - who according to Reiss played 51% of snaps). I'm not explicitly stating that I'd rather have Peppers over Wilfork, b/c I don't know for sure how Peppers projects into this system. But particularly given the state of the league, and the fact that two passing teams just battled it out for the Super Bowl, I think you could make a strong argument that a 2-down run stuffer does not deserve the same $$ that a 3 down pass rushing beast does, in any defense, including ours.

 

[woolster22]

I think he would look pretty good in the flying elvis, the question is at what cost though. If we tag vince and bring in Peppers...well lets just say that Vince will be one LARGE unhappy camper. It will be fun to see how this offseason shapes up though. Theres a lot of question marks surrounding the defense this year and it will be interesting to see how the team handles them.

 

[The_Riddler]

Kirwan sees Peppers as a Patriot.

NFL.com Blogs Blog Archive Peppers to … Patriots?

Landing Peppers will do so much for our draft alone, never mind the impact on our football team. We could draft an Iaputi or a Bulaga at #22 to step right in on the offensive line and we can focus on WR, RB and DE with the 3 2-s.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Call me financially irresponsible, but I'd like to see the the Pats make a big run at Peppers. Worse case we get two excellent years out of a 4 year deal and a bone-fide pass rush to boot and insert personal conduct clauses and lockout safeguards in the contract.

Make it happen.

 

[Sicilian]

I think he would look pretty good in the flying elvis, the question is at what cost though. If we tag vince and bring in Peppers...well lets just say that Vince will be one LARGE unhappy camper.

That's the big one. If we bring in Peppers on a big deal, we better give Vince a long term contract, or tag and trade him. It can do some bad things to locker room chemistry if you give an outsider a truck full of cash and won't pay one of your team captains. Not saying the money has to be similar at all, but the respect needs to be there for that to work.

 

[Patjew]

Sign the motherfvcuker.

I'm not kidding.

Sign him now.

"Where will we play, we have Seymour, this is a 3-4, he's not an LB, bra bra bra?"

That's done.

Sign the beast.

and I'll say it again:

 

[Rob0729]

This from MMQB tells me that Peppers probably will come a lot cheaper than people think he will:

I think the four GM-types I talked to last week had no answer to how anyone will structure a contract that gets free-agent defensive end Julius Peppers signed. There's not only the part about paying him what he thinks he's worth -- in excess of $15-million a year, which won't happen -- but also the part about giving a 30-year-old player lots of guaranteed money and then having the 2011 season disrupted or ruined with a job action.

Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Conrad Dobler, more NFL news - Peter King - SI.com

I could see Peppers as a Patriot and I think he is not going to get the mind-numbing deal people think he is getting. I think teams will be scared off by his age and perceived asking price.
​

 

[satz]

One more thing is if we got after peppers and pay him say 30-40 million
money in a 5-6 yr deal. I think we can have him.

If pats set this up though brady is not going to buy the whole get a home town discount logic for that matter mankins,ghost or even vince.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Sign the motherfvcuker.

Just digging into his stats more....

Last year, Peppers had 2 picks and 5 forced fumbles. For his career, he has forced 30 fumbles....30. That blows me away.

In the front-7, TBC led the team last year with 2.

Last year, Peppers had 33 QB pressures last year and 46 the year before.

Burgess and TBC had 46 pressures last year COMBINED. Wright led all pure-DLs w/ 14 last year.

The more I think about this, as long as the $$ doesn't crush the team's long-term financial structure, they need to pull a Yankees/Sabathia type of blown-away offer and get 'em.

 

[Rob0729]

BTW, as I said several times, I heard an interview with a local Panthers' beat writer last summer and he said that Peppers being all about the money is overblown. Peppers has turned down local endorsement deals throughout his career eventhough in the Carolina's he was as big as Brady is here at least until the last few years. So he left millions on the table rather than pimping himself out.

He also has his old college professor as his agent which tells me that he is either stupid or values loyalty over getting shark agents like Tom Condon or Drew Rosenhaus to get the Panthers to set the market with a new deal. If he dumped his professor, I am sure Condon or Rosenhaus would have gotten him a Haynesworth deal. From what I can tell, Peppers is a fairly bright guy for a non-QB, football player. So I guess he does value some things over money.

Also, the beat writer said he felt Peppers motivation was to get out of Carolina, not get paid the highest paid contract. He felt that Peppers had always lives and played in the Carolinas (high school, college, and pros) and wanted to play elsewhere and used his contract demands to get out of Carolina without trashing the team or demanding a trade by saying derogatory things about the team and area.

 

[cstjohn17]

Sign the motherfvcuker.

I'm not kidding.

Sign him now.

"Where will we play, we have Seymour, this is a 3-4, he's not an LB, bra bra bra?"

That's done.

Sign the beast.

and I'll say it again:

This sounds like the voice mail I just left BB. If they did this and nothing else the entire offseason I would be happy.

 

[Rob0729]

Just digging into his stats more....

Last year, Peppers had 2 picks and 5 forced fumbles. For his career, he has forced 30 fumbles....30. That blows me away.

In the front-7, TBC led the team last year with 2.

Last year, Peppers had 33 QB pressures last year and 46 the year before.

Burgess and TBC had 46 pressures last year COMBINED. Wright led all pure-DLs w/ 14 last year.

The more I think about this, as long as the $$ doesn't crush the team's long-term financial structure, they need to pull a Yankees/Sabathia type of blown-away offer and get 'em.

Personally, I think Peppers dogging it rep is overblown. He is still a fantastic player who like many players do go into cold streaks. He probably takes plays off, but so do many players. He is just such a disruptive force that you notice it more. The way he single handily shut down Brett Favre tells me that he can be that game changing pass rusher on this team.

 

[cstjohn17]

Personally, I think Peppers dogging it rep is overblown. He is still a fantastic player who like many players do go into cold streaks. He probably takes plays off, but so do many players. He is just such a disruptive force that you notice it more. The way he single handily shut down Brett Favre tells me that he can be that game changing pass rusher on this team.

Exactly right.

If he signs with Pats he is misunderstood and just wants to play for a winner.

If he signs somewhere else he is a self-centered money hungry pig.

 

[Patjew]

One more thing is if we got after peppers and pay him say 30-40 million
money in a 5-6 yr deal. I think we can have him.

If pats set this up though brady is not going to buy the whole get a home town discount logic for that matter mankins,ghost or even vince.

Good, then sign them all. This isn't my kids' college fund. TFB is not a young man any more. Sign some beasts, get two more rings, and get the **** out of there.

The end.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Good, then sign them all. This isn't my kids' college fund. TFB is not a young man any more. Sign some beasts, get two more rings, and get the **** out of there.

The end.

I'm with you. I believe in how the Pats do business (look long-term, draft based on value for unknown commodities, etc) but sometimes you need to spend to get proven top-end talent that you believe will make the organization and team superior.

Peppers is top-end talent. There is no debate on this. Only fear is that he is 29. Wish he was a tad younger.

 

[Rob0729]

Exactly right.

If he signs with Pats he is misunderstood and just wants to play for a winner.

If he signs somewhere else he is a self-centered money hungry pig.

I know the hypocriscy on this board (and every fan board), but I personally won't change my opinion of the guy unless he goes to a team like the Redskins or Raiders (a team that isn't really close to being a Super Bowl competitor, but pays for talent and foolishly) for a ridiculous amount of money. If he got a great deal with a team like say the Packers (a team with a shot at the Super Bowl that could have money to throw around this offseason since they are a non-profit), I wouldn't change my opinion.

 

[mosslost]

All I know is that I WANT Julius Peppers on this football team. Bottom line ... make it happen.

 

[Rob0729]

I'm with you. I believe in how the Pats do business (look long-term, draft based on value for unknown commodities, etc) but sometimes you need to spend to get proven top-end talent that you believe will make the organization and team superior.

Peppers is top-end talent. There is no debate on this. Only fear is that he is 29. Wish he was a tad younger.

Well, McGinest was 33 in 2004 when he had his second best year sackwise. In fact, his career was perceived to be winding down until he had a resurgence at 30. In fact, it wasn't until they switched him from DE to OLB in his 30s that he stopped being an injury prone letdown after a great start to his career.

Roman Phifer was 32 when he came to the Patriots and had four good seasons.

Tedy Bruschi made his first Super Bowl at 31.

Although Adalius Thomas was a disapointment, the Pats have had success with LBs in their 30s.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Well, McGinest was 33 in 2004 when he had his second best year sackwise. In fact, his career was perceived to be winding down until he had a resurgence at 30. In fact, it wasn't until they switched him from DE to OLB in his 30s that he stopped being an injury prone letdown after a great start to his career.

Roman Phifer was 32 when he came to the Patriots and had four good seasons.

Tedy Bruschi made his first Super Bowl at 31.

Although Adalius Thomas was a disappointment, the Pats have had success with LBs in their 30s.

No question that BBs track-record (with exception to Thomas whos performance may be more attributed to motivation rather than an erosion of his skills) is strong with LBs on the wrong side of 30. You can add a few more to your list such as Vrabel, Seau, and even Colvin at 30 in 07 was decent.

I guess my angle is shelling out big dollars for a 29 year old and looking long-term that he may be not a top-end impact player when his cap number is 10m. Thats all.

I do think it'll be interesting regarding the financial aspect of it as it relates to the CBA expiring, players share of revenues, etc.). Some owners have been disciplined financially (see Pats and Pitt) whereas others have not (Spanos, Jerry Jones, etc.). I don't think the owners leverage would be compromised if Kraft shelled out the cash for Brady and Peppers.

 

[Deus Irae]

I just don't get the amount of lust for a DE/LB conversion project who's weak against the run.