Carucci: Pats remain interested in Peppers

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

The Panthers have never said they don't have any cap. I believe as of last week they had considerably more cap space than we do including Peppers cap. They have always contended they franchised him with the intention of keeping him. They've been trying to sign him to an extention for 2 years. Last year they tagged Gross for the same reason and this year they got him signed just before the deadline for FA which is what enabled them to place the tag on Peppers.

Here is what the Panthers GM had to say to the mediots (and fans) who just refuse to listen (AGAIN) about Peppers yesterday:

"CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carolina Panthers general manager Marty Hurney remains confident defensive end Julius Peppers will return to the team next season, even as he’s made public his wishes to play elsewhere.

In a pre-draft interview with reporters Thursday, Hurney said there were no new developments in the stalemate with their four-time Pro Bowl pick.

If a trade is not worked out, Hurney said he doesn’t believe Peppers would hold out of training camp.

"We’ve known Julius for seven years, and it has been a good seven years," Hurney said. "I think he knows how we feel, and we feel like he’s been happy here. And again, nothing has changed. We franchised him, and when we did we knew there was a period for the process to take place. When that process goes through then he’s going to be back."

Under the non-exclusive franchise tag... only agent Carl Carey can negotiate with other teams...Hurney said he hasn’t been approached by Carey with a trade offer.

"When we franchised Julius we did so with the intention of having him back," Hurney said, "and that’s where it stands."

That's just a GM trying to stay optimistic (or denial) about the situation. Take what you hear from that guy with a grain of salt. Many people have said that Carolina doesn't have any cap to sign Peppers and was foolish in tagging him. For whatever reason now, I can't find the article on NFL.com that stressed Carolina was digging their own grave if they franchise Peppers back in February. Panthers will freak out and trade Peppers on draft day.

 

[slash83]

That's just a GM trying to stay optimistic (or denial) about the situation. Take what you hear from that guy with a grain of salt. Many people have said that Carolina doesn't have any cap to sign Peppers and was foolish in tagging him. For whatever reason now, I can't find the article on NFL.com that stressed Carolina was digging their own grave if they franchise Peppers back in February. Panthers will freak out and trade Peppers on draft day.

Man I hope your right

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Man I hope your right

That's assuming, of course, that Peppers actually signs his tender before then. It's not entirely clear why he hasn't (except, of course, that if he doesn't sign, he doesn't have to take part in organized team activities).

 

[slash83]

That's assuming, of course, that Peppers actually signs his tender before then. It's not entirely clear why he hasn't (except, of course, that if he doesn't sign, he doesn't have to take part in organized team activities).

Could it be maybe he wants to work out a deal with the team trading for him before he signs it? Who knows really...

 

[eom]

I don't see any particular reason why he should rush to sign it.
how does that help him?

of course, if his goal is to wind up on the patriots he'll need to do it fairly soon.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

That's just a GM trying to stay optimistic (or denial) about the situation. Take what you hear from that guy with a grain of salt. Many people have said that Carolina doesn't have any cap to sign Peppers and was foolish in tagging him. For whatever reason now, I can't find the article on NFL.com that stressed Carolina was digging their own grave if they franchise Peppers back in February. Panthers will freak out and trade Peppers on draft day.

Take what you hear from the mediots with a grain of salt too. If Carolina signed him to a long term deal they could save several million off the cap and only have to come up with maybe another $3 million in cash over cap and guarantee him another $28M (which would be salary) over the next 4-5 years and he's making Haynesworth money. Or they can hang onto him for this season and essentially let the cap pay the freight.

Carolina had quite a bit of cap space before they tagged him. They currently have over $6M in available cap (and no first round draft pick to eat into it) and they could free up additional cap extending Delhomme (although that would be a mistake IMO...). If they wanted to sign anyone else. They allowed some players to walk in FA, but that may have been their intention all along. Nobody retains everyone. Why would they freak between now and draft day when essentially all that remains in the FA market is leftovers??

Cap is worthless unless spent this season in the face of an uncapped 2010. And cap is funded by the revenue pool so it's not like it's coming out of ownerships pocket (unless someone was suggesting Carolina's owner needed to pocket that cap for his own purposes which would be a pretty bizarre analysis for football mediots to be making...

Julius Peppers is not going to sit home and lose $1M per week. If he is not traded by draft day, and I don't anticipate he will be, he will eventually sign his tag and report and say he always intended to and he has no problem playing for Carolina (in fact his agent said that weeks ago...) and we will all sing kumbayah...

Talk may be cheap but all the mediots are basing their prognostications on is some talking Peppers did back in January. He hasn't had a word to say since. His agent probably wanted to strangle him for babbling about 3-4 OLB's and the like because all it did was limit his agents options in shopping him. And that seems to be what has happened to date. The agent hasn't been able to get a deal from anyone that appeals enough to even take it to Carolina to try to broker a trade. And at the end of the day, all Carolina has to say is no... They've already proven it is their intention to sign him long term, and they've shown they are willing to sign a player long term after playing him through a tag season (Gross). They don't need Peppers to show up until August when it will be on him to have another good season or realize less on a 2010 long term deal with whomever he eventually signs one with.

 

[moosekill]

Julius Peppers is not going to sit home and lose $1M per week. If he is not traded by draft day, and I don't anticipate he will be, he will eventually sign his tag and report and say he always intended to and he has no problem playing for Carolina (in fact his agent said that weeks ago...) and we will all sing kumbayah...

Talk may be cheap but all the mediots are basing their prognostications on is some talking Peppers did back in January. He hasn't had a word to say since. His agent probably wanted to strangle him for babbling about 3-4 OLB's and the like because all it did was limit his agents options in shopping him. And that seems to be what has happened to date. The agent hasn't been able to get a deal from anyone that appeals enough to even take it to Carolina to try to broker a trade. And at the end of the day, all Carolina has to say is no... They've already proven it is their intention to sign him long term, and they've shown they are willing to sign a player long term after playing him through a tag season (Gross). They don't need Peppers to show up until August when it will be on him to have another good season or realize less on a 2010 long term deal with whomever he eventually signs one with.

Heard all that before, however I seem to remember certain Patriots getting out of dodge by doing just what you are saying he won't do.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Could it be maybe he wants to work out a deal with the team trading for him before he signs it? Who knows really...

Well, then, that eliminates the NEP because Bill stated as clearly as he could he never has and never would negotiate a deal with a player under circumstances where that players agent was the only one who could talk to the trading team...

Belichick does deals on terms where the professional FO's involved are in the drivers seat. They agree on trade compensation first. Then you deal with the players contractual situation. That's what we did with Moss and Welker and Dillon and even Starks...

When a player has not signed his tag his agent becomes the conduit between two FO's who can't talk to each other except through the players agent. He finds a team or teams who want his client at something less than the prescribed compensation, but are willing to talk about lesser trade compensation. One reason you don't do those deals is agents often try to leverage that compensation downward in order to get more contract dollars for their client. Teams want deals to be negotiated in just the opposite fashion with the trade compensation decided first (and maximized) and any discount to offset that cost to the receiving team coming off the players end of the deal (if he really wants the deal to be done he demands a little less...).

 

[Easywolf32]

Carucci is an idiot, Peppers does not belong in a Patriots Uniform. :disagreement:

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Heard all that before, however I seem to remember certain Patriots getting out of dodge by doing just what you are saying he won't do.

Like who??

Deion Branch threatened to hold out and held out of camp. He was under contract so it cost him but at the rate he was being compensated vs. his market value it became a no brainer for him to take it to the limit. He was a second rounder making relative peanuts and in line for his first (and as fate would have it likely last) top 5 deal. He'd have caved even at that rate eventually but Bill got sick of it and gave him an ultimatum to go find a deal and we'll trade you or you report. He landed in Seattle which was likely not the first choice of a boy from the South but all he cared about was somebody showing him the money. If Peppers wants to sign his tag and then not report Carolina may dedide to trade him to someone of their choosing on the eve of the season. That is something he isn't desperate enough for. Branch was.

And this year there remain teams sufficiently under the cap to absorb Peppers cap hit under the tag just as KC did with Cassel.

 

[eom]

yeah, and there's a reason those teams are so far under the cap.

do you think tampa wants to sign a guy for 17m?

if pioli hadn't taken the kc job, do you think they would've sprung for a 14m qb?

 

[slash83]

I don't see any particular reason why he should rush to sign it.
how does that help him?

of course, if his goal is to wind up on the patriots he'll need to do it fairly soon.

When vic first reported this he did say it's either going to happen at the owners meetings or around the draft or the day of the draft. Peppers will have to sign it before the draft if he wants to play for the pats.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Well, then, that eliminates the NEP because Bill stated as clearly as he could he never has and never would negotiate a deal with a player under circumstances where that players agent was the only one who could talk to the trading team...

Well, that's not necessarily 100% true: didn't they "negotiate" with Welker before they "traded" for him?

 

[eom]

I don't remember that, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.

did they?

 

[NE39]

Well, that's not necessarily 100% true: didn't they "negotiate" with Welker before they "traded" for him?

He was a RFA and could visit any team, and they were going to sign him to an offer sheet. They just decided to throw Miami the extra pick to entice them to trade him instead, so they wouldn't have to worry about Miami matching the offer. Reportedly, Bob Kraft actually brokered those talks with the Miami owner, because they didn't want to get into a "poison-pill" type contract.

They could do the same with Peppers, but I doubt it. It wouldn't be a surprise, if the Pats really had interest in Peppers, that they had talks with the agent about what it would take to sign him. They probably would have an idea of what kind of contract it would take, and there is nothing illegal about having those talks.

However, Belichick was clear that if Peppers wants to be traded he would have to sign the tender. The difference between Peppers and Welker is the Pats aren't about to sign Peppers and give up 2 first round picks. Thus, it will have to be a trade. Belichick said he isn't going to have trade talks through the agent, he would have to deal directly with the team. He was very clear about that, and also that (theoretically) he would only do that if the player signed the tender. Go back and look up the reports, he couldn't have been more clear.

If Peppers really wants to be dealt, he will sign the tender.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

However, Belichick was clear that if Peppers wants to be traded he would have to sign the tender. The difference between Peppers and Welker is the Pats aren't about to sign Peppers and give up 2 first round picks. Thus, it will have to be a trade. Belichick said he isn't going to have trade talks through the agent, he would have to deal directly with the team. He was very clear about that, and also that (theoretically) he would only do that if the player signed the tender. Go back and look up the reports, he couldn't have been more clear.

If Peppers really wants to be dealt, he will sign the tender.

Because Peppers has been tendered but hasn't signed the tender, he is a free agent who can negotiate with any team, including his own.

My point was simply that what Belichick objects to is not shuttle diplomacy per se, but rather extended shuttle diplomacy. He had no problem with Welker as an "intermediary" because he knew they were going to get him one way or the other; he has a problem here because he knows it's not going to be quick and easy, and Peppers isn't worth two firsts to New England.

 

[slash83]

The next question is does Peppers sign his tender before the draft?

Id be surprised if he doesnt, but who knows what hes thinking...

 

[NE39]

Because Peppers has been tendered but hasn't signed the tender, he is a free agent who can negotiate with any team, including his own.

My point was simply that what Belichick objects to is not shuttle diplomacy per se, but rather extended shuttle diplomacy. He had no problem with Welker as an "intermediary" because he knew they were going to get him one way or the other; he has a problem here because he knows it's not going to be quick and easy, and Peppers isn't worth two firsts to New England.

I said that same thing. Belichick wouldn't consider trying to work out a trade for less than the 2 first through the agent. He said he would only deal with the team directly, and he couldn't do that unless the player signed the contract. He said, specifically, if the player wanted to be traded he needs to sign the tender. Other teams might work through the agent, but he doesn't.

He was speaking hypothetically, but was clear on his point.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Many people have said that Carolina doesn't have any cap to sign Peppers and was foolish in tagging him.

Well they already have him fit in the cap at his franchise tag.

So apparently some are saying that his cap hit for this year if he signs a long term contract is going to be for MORE than $17 million?

Either those people are idiots or they know something we don't.

I'm sure some felt - as they did around here - that there's no risk to franchising someone if you hope to either sign them long term or trade them.

There is a risk, as their was with Cassel - the Panthers however are paying the price and thankfully we did not.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

Well they already have him fit in the cap at his franchise tag.

So apparently some are saying that his cap hit for this year if he signs a long term contract is going to be for MORE than $17 million?

Either those people are idiots or they know something we don't.

I'm sure some felt - as they did around here - that there's no risk to franchising someone if you hope to either sign them long term or trade them.

There is a risk, as their was with Cassel - the Panthers however are paying the price and thankfully we did not.

Their saying if Peppers signs a long term deal, Carolina is okay. Yes, they can can sign him to a one year deal but they can't sign anybody else in FA and would barely be able to sign their draft picks. Going into a possible uncapped year, it would be stupid to sign a player (that doesn't want to sign long term) to a one year deal and then see him walk in 2010. Carolina won't be able to match any offer he would receive in 2010.