A blocker on Peppers?
Patriots may find salary prohibitive
By Christopher L. Gasper
What is clear is that Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers would like to play for the Patriots. What isn't clear is just how interested the Patriots are in landing Peppers to play outside linebacker in their 3-4 defense and how capable they are of doing it from a financial standpoint.
A source close to Peppers said yesterday that the Patriots are on a "very short list" of teams he would consent to being traded to. It is believed that all of the teams on that list play a 3-4 defense, since Peppers, who has made it clear he wants out of Carolina and who has been slapped with the franchise tag by the team, told the Charlotte Observer last month that he wanted to play in a 3-4.
However, talk of a trade to the Patriots might be more the fantasy of the Peppers camp than the reality of the Patriots' plans.
An NFL.com report on Monday provided the framework of a Patriots-Panthers trade, saying Carolina would receive the second-round pick (No. 34 overall) the Patriots acquired from Kansas City for Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel.
A league source confirmed that the Patriots have discussed Peppers but didn't know of an imminent deal. The Panthers denied knowledge of a deal, citing the fact that Peppers has not signed his franchise tag tender and thus can't be traded (although his agent, Carl Carey, is free to shop him to other teams).
Yesterday, multiple reports shot down the idea of Peppers joining the Patriots. Adam Schefter of the NFL Network, appearing on WEEI, said he was 99.9 percent sure that Peppers would not be a Patriot next year.
There are obvious stumbling blocks to bringing the 29-year-old Peppers to Foxborough, the paramount one being money.
Last season, Peppers was the highest-paid defensive end in the NFL at $13.9 million. Under the rules of the franchise tag, which calls for a player to get the average of the top five players at his position or 120 percent of his previous year's salary, whichever is greater, the Panthers had to offer Peppers a whopping $16.68 million - more than $2 million more than Tom Brady will count against the Patriots' cap.
The Patriots were believed to be in the neighborhood of $15 million-$18 million under the cap after they dealt Cassel and Vrabel, but that was before they reached agreements with Shawn Springs (three years, $10.5 million) and Leigh Bodden (one-year, $2.25 million) and re-signed James Sanders (three years, $9 million) and Mike Wright (four years, $7.5 million).
It's highly unlikely the Patriots could fit Peppers's franchise salary under the cap, so any deal would have to include a new contract. That could also be a problem for the Patriots.
LINK TO REST OF STORY: http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2009/03/18/a_blocker_on_peppers/
Calendar