Carucci: Pats remain interested in Peppers

[yopats]

OBoy! Ron Borges says NO!!

I think this might be a good sign

 

[NE39]

FWIW, Pat Kirwin just backed up Carucci in that Kirwin is convinced that by tomorrow afternoon that Peppers will be a Patriot. John Dennis did react that he is in a consensus of one. Kirwin argued that the Panthers have to trade Peppers even after the Delhomme deal and needs more high draft picks to fix their holes.

Unless he signs his tender by the close of the league office today, I don't think a trade is possible at all. You can't trade him unless he signs the tender, and I think that has to be filed with the NFL prior to the weekend. I think the office officially closes at 4 PM (EST).

At this point, it just seems like a logical impossibility. Leaving aside the concern fitting him under the cap or what it would do to the teams overall pay structure (ie. pissing off other players), working the logistics of a trade, agreeing on compensation and pulling it off seems a little too complex a transaction to take place in such a short time period.

 

[Rob0729]

Unless he signs his tender by the close of the league office today, I don't think a trade is possible at all. You can't trade him unless he signs the tender, and I think that has to be filed with the NFL prior to the weekend. I think the office officially closes at 4 PM (EST).

At this point, it just seems like a logical impossibility. Leaving aside the concern fitting him under the cap or what it would do to the teams overall pay structure (ie. pissing off other players), working the logistics of a trade, agreeing on compensation and pulling it off seems a little too complex a transaction to take place in such a short time period.

That isn't true. The league office is open this weekend due to the draft. If they weren't, no trade or draft pick would be official. Peppers' tender just needs to be signed at the time of the trade to make it go through.

I don't think Peppers will be traded (just fun to debate on my end), but I don't think it is logistically impossibe. Difficult? Maybe. But if the Pats do intend to trade for Peppers, I guarantee you the negotiations are much farther along than people realize. The Pats like to negotiate under the radar so even if they had a deal with Peppers in place and are close to a trade agreement with the Panthers, we may not hear about anything until the deal is done and Peppers is on a plane to New England.

 

[amazinPats]

OBoy! Ron Borges says NO!!

I think this might be a good sign

Not at all. Borges makes perfect sense.

On the other hand, the following quote is weird to say the least:

Patriots coach Bill Belichick is on record saying he is reluctant to negotiate trades with player agents rather than teams and would prefer the tender be signed first, another stumbling block that very likely dates back to the unhappy business dealing he had with Jason Chayut, agent for departed wide receiver Deion Branch. The only winner of that fiasco was Branch. Once burned - or once played - Belichick doesn’t want a repeat experience.

How did BB get burned? Last I remember, the team got a first round pick out of it. And Branch wasn't worth that at all.

 

[PatsDparty]

Not at all. Borges makes perfect sense.

On the other hand, the following quote is weird to say the least:

Patriots coach Bill Belichick is on record saying he is reluctant to negotiate trades with player agents rather than teams and would prefer the tender be signed first, another stumbling block that very likely dates back to the unhappy business dealing he had with Jason Chayut, agent for departed wide receiver Deion Branch. The only winner of that fiasco was Branch. Once burned - or once played - Belichick doesn’t want a repeat experience.

How did BB get burned? Last I remember, the team got a first round pick out of it. And Branch wasn't worth that at all.

Well he got burned in the sense that Branch forced a trade out, when the Pats were interested in retaining him. They made the best out of a bad situation, but the Pats didn't want to trade Branch.

 

[amazinPats]

He likely would have been injured anyway. It was Seattle who got burned.

 

[Rob0729]

Not at all. Borges makes perfect sense.

On the other hand, the following quote is weird to say the least:

Patriots coach Bill Belichick is on record saying he is reluctant to negotiate trades with player agents rather than teams and would prefer the tender be signed first, another stumbling block that very likely dates back to the unhappy business dealing he had with Jason Chayut, agent for departed wide receiver Deion Branch. The only winner of that fiasco was Branch. Once burned - or once played - Belichick doesn’t want a repeat experience.

How did BB get burned? Last I remember, the team got a first round pick out of it. And Branch wasn't worth that at all.

Borges is misrepresenting Belichick's dealing with agents. The Pats didn't like Chayut because they felt he was undermining the process, but it doesn't mean they don't like to deal with agents. Besides, Peppers' agent isn't a typical agent. He is Peppers' former college professor who was certified as an agent to represent Peppers and Peppers only. So he may not be as swarmy as a lot of agents out there and more in tune with trying to get a deal done that satisfies everyone. Or he could be a nutjob who screws up the entire process.

Also, I think the Pats won. Losing Branch did not cost the Pats the chance at a Super Bowl that year unless he could have covered Dallas Clark. By losing Branch, the Pats got Welker and Moss the following year. There was a chance the Pats got one, but definitely not both if Branch was here.

 

[amazinPats]

And if people feel that the affair hurt the team, then that doesn't mean that dealing Branch away for a first rounder wasn't a great move. It means that BB did a bad job of finding a suitable replacement. Either way, the team made out big on that deal.

 

[Patriots2001]

I would love to see Peppers here

 

[Zeus]

There are structural impediments to getting a deal done.

1. NE can't negotiate with Carolina unless Peppers signs the tender.
   
2. Peppers will not sign the tender because he loses control over where he plays (Carolina could trade him anywhere).
   
3. Belichick will not deal directly with the agent for a couple of reasons. If NE cuts a tentative deal with Peppers, the starting point for negotiating compensation to Caolina is 2 #1 picks. Also, the agent can then shop the deal elsewhere in the attempt to create a bidding war.

Belichick's reluctance to deal directly with the agent has more to do with negotiating leverage than anything else.

As far as Deion Branch is concerned, he took questionable advice from a scumbag agent. Isn't Jason Chayut the agent for Eagles CB Sheldon Brown?

 

[ctpatsfan77]

That isn't true. The league office is open this weekend due to the draft. If they weren't, no trade or draft pick would be official. Peppers' tender just needs to be signed at the time of the trade to make it go through.

This is true; after all, Tom Brady had to restructure his contract before the Pats could sign Moss.

 

[NE39]

How did BB get burned? Last I remember, the team got a first round pick out of it. And Branch wasn't worth that at all.

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.

 

[BelichickFan]

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

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 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.

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.

 

[Clonamery]

.......either he isn't interested in the Pats, or is pretty dense.

Either way it's a reason to move on.

 

[PatsDparty]

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.

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]

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.

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...