Now Holmgren Chasing Peppers?

[CribbsWalker]

ESPN Insider.... more hypatheticals...

 

The big question related to Julius Peppers now is not who wants him, but who doesn't. One team that might want to sign him long-term -- his current team, the Panthers -- likely won't have that opportunity. Peppers was on WFNZ radio (per the Rock Hill Herald), and when asked about a long-term deal with the team, he said, "Last year, at the time, that was the option that I wanted most. But now it's not."

 

Beat writer Darin Gantt noted in the wake of the interview hitting the airwaves that "it's becoming more and more clear that Peppers isn't going to be here next year." One intriguing possibility is for the Panthers to franchise Peppers and then trade him; by doing this, it may actually increase his market, according to Albert Breer of the Boston Globe. A team that is bound by the restrictive "Final Eight Rule" can circumvent that edict and get their hands on the DE by way of a trade. If Peppers hits unrestricted free agency, those teams would have difficult hurdles to clear to land him.

 

Update: senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen made a splash on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon, naming the Browns as a "sleeper" for Peppers, based on Holmgren's past pursuit of Reggie White, and the fact that they'll have the cash.

 

[samoth]

He's too expensie and we get similar production out of Marcus Benard.

 

I am friends with some Panthers fans. Their knock on Peppers is he takes plays off all the time and rarely goes full throttle anymore.

[halfsane]

^ that right there scares me. we can do without peppers.

[yosemitejam]

offer him a fair market contract laden with realistic escalator clauses bases on field production milestones.. If he has bad habits of taking plays off then some bonuses become unachievable due to his work ethic...or lack thereof. These parameters might motivate the young man to be all he can be if he brings his show to the north coast. Go Browns!!

[Rooster Dick]

Marcus Benard = Julius Peppers

 

Please give me some of that ganja

[halfsane]

offer him a fair market contract laden with realistic escalator clauses bases on field production milestones.. If he has bad habits of taking plays off then some bonuses become unachievable due to his work ethic...or lack thereof. These parameters might motivate the young man to be all he can be if he brings his show to the north coast. Go Browns!!

 

 

That's fine and dandy as long as he isn't a negative influence. We had young guys playing hard at the end of last season. We don't need that work ethic xxxxed up. That is my concern, but it may be baseless.

 

 

[Dawgstucknpa]

Marcus Benard = Julius Peppers

 

Please give me some of that ganja

 

 

Hahaha....no shiznit. Dude, you were serious? hahahahaha......

[tampadawgs]

He's too expensie and we get similar production out of Marcus Benard.

 

I am friends with some Panthers fans. Their knock on Peppers is he takes plays off all the time and rarely goes full throttle anymore.

 

Did you really say that we can get similar production out of Benard...LOL

 

Benard had 1 good game and now he is as good as Peppers, are you kidding me.......

 

Peppers to Cleveland makes Clev D top 15, thats about 15 spots better then now

 

[choco]

one player suddenly makes us a top 15 D? thats so much funnier than comparing bernard to peppers....

 

 

if getting better in this game was a simple as signing 30 year old linemen, we'd have more superbowls than the steelers.

[samoth]

offer him a fair market contract laden with realistic escalator clauses bases on field production milestones.. If he has bad habits of taking plays off then some bonuses become unachievable due to his work ethic...or lack thereof. These parameters might motivate the young man to be all he can be if he brings his show to the north coast. Go Browns!!

Why would he sign it when someone else will make him the highest paid defensive player in the league on a guaranteed contract?

[yosemitejam]

Why would he sign it when someone else will make him the highest paid defensive player in the league on a guaranteed contract?

YOu are probrably right,,,,,,,But maybehe could take some of the younger kids under his wing and school them on what made him such a force in the game...If only one player caught hold of Peppers understanding off the game and had the physical attributes to match this initself is a victory for the young man and potentially the Brown's....I may be straying a bit but every cavs game i see shaq take time out to offer pointer to the younger player not to mention what he does in the practices. I personally have see improvemt in the Cavs and a crossover to the Browns would be aces. YOu have to give it away to keep it

[2yy4u]

I think this is a no-brainer...if Holmgren can get Peppers as his first acquisition, I'd be estatic! Peppers has been saying and experts have conquered(Do you conquer Dr.?) that Peppers would be a beast at the OLB in a 3-4 defense. You're talking bout adding 12-15 sacks and another 25 hurries to a defense that was lacking to say the least at many times. We get him and draft Haden(loving this guy more the more research I do...not just Mel "The Hair" Kiper" does) and you're instantly talking upgrade. Can you imagine opposing offenses having to prepare for Rogers, Peppers, Wimbley, and my new boy Roth coming at them each week. A pass rush consisting of those guys would only make our secondary that much better. Look, all I'm saying is that Peppers is has Icon status on Madden and that's good enough for me....let's back the Brinks truck up to his door step and make this happen, we've got the money to spend, so let's spend it!

[Tim Couch Pulls Out]

Peppers has been saying and experts have conquered(Do you conquer Dr.?) that Peppers would be a beast at the OLB in a 3-4 defense.

 

I conquer Dr. Pepper. Shit doesn't stand a chance.

[cambridgeho]

F*&K it, lets add Peppers and Seymour, Trade Williams for a 4th or 5th. Draft Hayden and or Berry. Move Rogers to DE and have Have Wimbley lineing up behind Seymour, and Peppers behind Rogers. They would dominate. We have the money to spend, and I believe that MH will be making a splash in his first year as President. Even though Seymour will probably get tagged, its still fun to speculate. I know this wont happen, but damn if it did we would be all sorts of nasty.

[Riffer X]

F*&K it, lets add Peppers and Seymour, Trade Williams for a 4th or 5th. Draft Hayden and or Berry. Move Rogers to DE and have Have Wimbley lineing up behind Seymour, and Peppers behind Rogers. They would dominate. We have the money to spend, and I believe that MH will be making a splash in his first year as President. Even though Seymour will probably get tagged, its still fun to speculate. I know this wont happen, but damn if it did we would be all sorts of nasty.

 

Until these guys start getting hurt etc. It's so tempting to try to shortcut but we don't want to be the AFC's version of Dan Snyder. I like the idea of Rogers at DE though, I've been saying that for awhile. Actually, I say line him up on whoever the other team's weakest lineman is and let him go crazy. He's a playmaker, let him do it. At NT, all he is doing is creating holes with his penetration.

[2yy4u]

Until these guys start getting hurt etc. It's so tempting to try to shortcut but we don't want to be the AFC's version of Dan Snyder. I like the idea of Rogers at DE though, I've been saying that for awhile. Actually, I say line him up on whoever the other team's weakest lineman is and let him go crazy. He's a playmaker, let him do it. At NT, all he is doing is creating holes with his penetration.

 

 

I don't understand all these rumors flying around about getting rid of Rogers! Just cuz the defense played decent without him for a couple games doesn't mean the lack of him being there was the reason for it. Rogers was the only one making any plays on defense while he was playing and if it was a defensive adjustment that was made to compensate for his absence, he can certainly fit into any style of d. Rogers is the most dominant NT in the league...did people not see him being double and triple teamed and still applying pressure? Unless someone is gonna give us the farm(I'd say two 1st rounders and a third) then I say no way we even consider moving him.

[Flugel]

ESPN Insider.... more hypatheticals...

 

The big question related to Julius Peppers now is not who wants him, but who doesn't. One team that might want to sign him long-term -- his current team, the Panthers -- likely won't have that opportunity. Peppers was on WFNZ radio (per the Rock Hill Herald), and when asked about a long-term deal with the team, he said, "Last year, at the time, that was the option that I wanted most. But now it's not."

 

Beat writer Darin Gantt noted in the wake of the interview hitting the airwaves that "it's becoming more and more clear that Peppers isn't going to be here next year." One intriguing possibility is for the Panthers to franchise Peppers and then trade him; by doing this, it may actually increase his market, according to Albert Breer of the Boston Globe. A team that is bound by the restrictive "Final Eight Rule" can circumvent that edict and get their hands on the DE by way of a trade. If Peppers hits unrestricted free agency, those teams would have difficult hurdles to clear to land him.

 

Update: senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen made a splash on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon, naming the Browns as a "sleeper" for Peppers, based on Holmgren's past pursuit of Reggie White, and the fact that they'll have the cash.

 

The biggest question I have if they salt us with Peppers is: do we just walk Roth over to the New England Patriots and tell them here's an enormous bang for the buck compliments of the Cleveland Browns? I look at Joey Pottymouth and see 17.5 sacks in 2008 and Peppers with 14.5 sacks in 2008 to understand the temptation. That said, NEITHER franchise returned to the playoffs in 2009 and neither franchise wants to re-sign their sack specialist for 2010. Is that a red flag or a green light? I can't speak for others but I'm tired of bringing in high priced FAs (beyond their primes) who never showed me they cared as much about winning as cashing their paychecks. That's why I enjoyed the Hell out of seeing Roth hurry passers at garage sale prices.

 

There's a team in Washington that thought they were getting the difference between winning and losing at Defensive Tackle. They broke the bank to get him and he wasn't the SAME inspired feller he was in Nashville. There's PRE-dream contract which involves incentive to play hard and PROVE thyself. And then there's that dream contract, which means there's no more need to PROVE thyself once it's signed and checks are being cashed. If that's not enough, HOW LONG do these pass rushers remain at the top of their game? Anyone remember Jevon Kearse's last good game? It was before Philly overpaid him dearly. While we're at it, when is the last Shawn Merriman highlight you witnessed? Was it before they discovered dirty urine?

 

I say we keep Roth and feel happy we found a guy that WANTS to play hard. FWIW, Rogers did lineup and play some DE in 1 game for us earlier in the year and I thought the results were good. At the time, Robaire Smith played on the Nose. Rubin's emergence might open up more opportunity for us to have fun with Rogers on the edge especially since Schaeferling (looked like David Puzzouli filling for Bob Golic) in giving us solid backup on the Nose. Corey Williams is STARTING to get it while Robaire Smith is reminding me of Carl Big Daddy Hairston in his later years.

- Tom F.

[cambridgeho]

Great way to look at it, but the Front Officce is going to over spend on somebody. They need to make a splash somewhere in free Agency. I liked the way Roth came in a beat up on people. He has great size and speed. Just think if we did Get a Peppers how much better Roth would be. We need to build through the draft, and I think we will do so, but there will be a big money name headed our way. MH spent a crap load on Reggie White later in his career and look how that turned out. Peppers could be good or bad, who knows.

[Flugel]

Great way to look at it, but the Front Officce is going to over spend on somebody. They need to make a splash somewhere in free Agency. I liked the way Roth came in a beat up on people. He has great size and speed. Just think if we did Get a Peppers how much better Roth would be. We need to build through the draft, and I think we will do so, but there will be a big money name headed our way. MH spent a crap load on Reggie White later in his career and look how that turned out. Peppers could be good or bad, who knows.

 

The only thing is - the staff also reminded us Wimbley CAN play so we've got outside guys that can sack the QB or worst case scenario force him to throw it before he wants to. I guess I like the same things about Wimbley that I like about Roth. Both kids had to read from countless English majors working in the newspapers that they didn't HAVE it. Coincidentally, BOTH kids would meet Bryan Cox here (under Mangini and Ryan) who told them flock the critics - and just be who WE think you are. I couldn't have been more pleased with what I saw from the LBers we needed to rush the passer and the wide bodied DEs that put a hand on the ground.

 

Unfortunately, when you bring in an expensive FA with a decorated resume - that doesn't always add up to coachable or works well with others. My worry is we get a guy that hates the scheme, challenges the coaches and then the younger guys get confused about what leadership to follow. Jamal Lewis comes to mind in a hurry. As soon as that anchor was removed - our running game looked elite. I think this type of example can also work on the defensive side of the ball too.

 

Roth removes our desperation as does the re-emergence of Wimbley. Rubin's emergence allows us to move Rogers out to DE, which could be REALLY cool. I think there's other places we need to upgrade for the type of coin Peppers will demand.

- Tom F.

[Canton Mike]

Guys,

Don't forget Marcus Benard in the linebacker discussion.

I'm not sold on a move for Peppers either, but I can live with what Holmgren, Heckert, & Mangini decide.

Mike