Actually, you cannot sign a deal until the new year. You cannot sign a deal in the current year and not have it affect the cap. You can agree to a deal and make it official
Futures contracts for PSquaders and such are signed all the time with no impact on the cap, unless there is some specific language you can point to in the CBA I don't see how a legal contract for the 2010 NFL season starting March 5th and running through the 20xx season isn't valid and can be signed at anytime.
Can you offer $14 million a year to a player under contract?
How is this pertinent? We are not discussing offering Peppers anything before the new League year - we are discussing whether chasing him with a large $ contract while still trying to reach an agreement with Wilfork will have some impact on Wilfork's negotiations.
So the Pats wait until Wilfork is signed which could be weeks after Peppers signs a deal with another team and then go after him? How is that a good strategy. If the Pats really want Peppers, they have to sign him within the next few days or he will probany be gone.
Granted, which doesn't mean NE shouldn't be factoring in locker room balancing acts - BB has said as much in the past.
As for the lockerroom stuff, either his motivation issues are overblown or not. Peppers is or isn't going to change at 30 with or without Wilfork.
Perhaps, peer pressure is a funny thing, especially with a change of scenery.
Again I am throwing hypotheticals. You look to be taking them as facts.
Good grief, what are you complaining about here? We were both discussing the hypothetical aspects of two players projected into a similar situation for NE. Either Peppers requires peer pressure to fight through frustration or he doesn't, in comparison to Ware he's considered more of a diva, but has been known to respond to strong leadership from his peers. Ware on the hand doesn't seem to need any special handling - since he's not available we are back to discussing the hypothetical locker room implications of the two contract negotiations. Wilfork the team leader would indeed be more important to the process for one over the other, and a grumpy Wilfork frustrated over his negotiations would not be good.
And I don't expect them to pass on a guy if they think he is a gamechanger just because of Wilfork. Wilfork is a Patriot no matter what this upcoming season. If they think Peppers is a gamechanger on defense, he might only be available for a few hours of free agency.
I dislike the idea of bringing Peppers into NE and "I" know he is a game changer, for better "and" for worse. I also know that Wilfork has changed games for us, he is a defensive Captain (for another few hours), and his willing leadership is a force for good in the locker room - I'm weighing the effect of acquiring an expensive game changing diva while trying to extend Vince long term. We obviously disagree as to how smoothly things will go if Peppers gets "his" asking price and Vince doesn't. To date, Vince has indicated he and NE are far apart, though the relative quiet right now gives me hope.
When did Carolina have a QB the quality of Brady. The Panthers are not a consistent playoff team because they don't have the offense.
Which doesn't effect the relative values of a 3-4 NT and an edge rusher, NE went to the playoffs without a premier edge rusher. Wilfork, still rehabbing a foot injury, got his clock cleaned one on one with Baltimore's Center and Ray Rice ran for an 83 yd TD. He made whatever adjustment he needed to make and played better from there, but NE didn't lose that game because the edge rush was inadequate - NT's are "essential" for a 3-4 and your valuing Vince below Julius on defense is a comparison with which I strongly disagree.
Three 3-4 NTs were franchised because they couldn't be tendered as RFA. If Wilfork had five years of service instead of six, he would have been tendered the highest RFA tender rather than the franchise tag. Same with Casey Hampton. Your logic is faulty because the NTs hitting free agency were older than the edge rushers hitting free agency.
Nice sophistry.
We are discussing the relative merits of NT and edge rusher and the value teams place on them. This offseason teams expressed their valuation by placing the Franchise Tag on "free agent" NTs, which meant they valued those tackles to the tune of the average of their top five peers' salaries - pretty strong vote. I'm just as sure as you are those same teams would have done the same for strong edge rushers - the fun would come when a team has to decide between their NT and their edge rush. Which all means "both" are valued contributors to a team's success, or lack thereof.
TBC matched Peppers in sack totals this season, do you expect him to be paid more than Wilfork? Peppers can attract top offers because of who he is and what he's done, oddly enough so can Wilfork, which is why NE tagged him. You may not consider Wilfork an elite talent, but he's clearly not one who can be easily replaced - that puts Peppers and Wilfork in the same conversation.
Again, your argument seems to be more towards your opinion of the player, not Belichick's. Your opinion, my opinion, and everyone else on this board's opinion have no bearing on this decision. Belichick may agree with you or he may think Peppers is the second coming of LT. We have no idea at least until tomorrow.
Opinions are our bread and butter on this forum. I respectfully disagree with the idea that Wilfork's negotiations and any offer made to Peppers won't have some bearing on each other. If NE and the Wilfork camp have reached an agreement in general and are working through details, then it shouldn't be an issue, but if they are still far apart, paying out top dollar to bring in Peppers is not going to make the Wilfork camp happy.
But I guarantee you if he believes the latter, Wilfork will have no bearing on whether he throws money at Peppers or not. I am guessing he doesn't think that highly of him, but he could think he might be the best pass rusher who fits the Pats system to be avaiable in free agency since he got here. That isn't too much of a stretch. I guess we will see pretty quickly because I think by the end of the weekend, he will be on someone's roster.
BTW, my logic doesn't stop with just Peppers. He might feel that Dansby might be that franchise player gamechanger or someone else that he will throw megamoney at in the first week.
If BB thinks he can manage Peppers and get the impact he wants, more power to him. Based on what little I know through the media, Peppers reportedly responds better when his locker room environment creates high expectations and encourages him to fight through his frustrations on the field. I'm unimpressed with a guy who disappears the way he does, particularly when it appears his annual salary expectation is going to be in the same neighborhood as Tom Brady's - "my" expectation would then be to see Peppers play with the same intensity as Tom Brady. I don't think I am alone, not when we consider how fans reacted to the negative reports on Randy Moss last season.
