Peppers' agent discusses why his client wants out of Carolina

Q and A: Peppers' agent discusses why his client wants out of Carolina
Written by Steve Reed
1/17/2009 2:15:06 PM


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CHARLOTTE -- Julius Peppers' agent Carl Carey talked to Carolina Growl for about 25 minutes Saturday regarding his client's decision to no longer play for the Carolina Panthers.

Here's what Carey had to say:

When did Julius make his decision that he doesn’t want to play for Carolina?

“Definitively it was made Wednesday of last week, the final, final decision about where he stands with this. It has been something he has been comtemplating for awhile and trying to work through. But Wednesday, after he had a few days to think following the season, he made the final decision.”

Why doesn’t he want to play in Carolina?

“It really has to do with him being in his prime and having certain goals set for himself in this sport and realizing that, in the life of an NFL player, that he’s in the middle of his career and if he’s going to reach his full potential then he needs to look at a different system to play in and that time is a factor in terms of having the number of years to reach those goals.”

So his goal is to play in a 3-4 defense?

“At this point that is a preference of his. It’s not a situation where if he doesn’t get to play in a 3-4 then he doesn’t want to go to a particular club because he wants to play in a 3-4. That is a preference right now though. He feels that in a different system period, he can thrive. And he’s very intrigued by the 3-4.”

Why does he feel like he can’t thrive here?

“Julius has excelled as a Carolina Panther and his accomplishments on the field speak to what he had done there. This is more of him taking the next step. In some sense we do feel that he has excelled in Carolina. His accomplishments speak to that. But in terms of him taking the next step we felt it was necessary to explore another system to help him reach that next level.”


Is there are rift between him and Mike Trgovac?

“Not at all. That is something I want to be clear about and something that Julius wants to be very clear about. He has tremendous respect for the entire coaching staff and every member on the defensive side of the coaching staff that he works with. There is not one single individual in that entire building that he doesn't have a good relationship with."

When did you tell Panthers GM Marty Hurney about the news?

“Thursday.”

What was his reaction?

“Well, Marty and I have a long professional relationship and so it was a very comfortable conversation. It was very amicable. We both expressed to each other that we have jobs to do in this. His job is to maintain and protect the interest of the Carolina Panthers and my job is to maintain and protect the interest of Julius Peppers...”

Was Hurney upset or disappointed?

“I’ll say that the goal of the team has been to keep Julius in Carolina. With that being the goal I’m sure he was disappointed. But at the same time the club made Julius an offer at the beginning of the season and when we didn’t make a lot of headway in terms of getting Julius to sign I believe that Marty had an inkling that that all was not well in terms of Julius’ thought process about signing a long-term deal. I can’t say that Marty was shocked. I can say he disappointed but not shocked.”

The offer they made would have made Julius the highest-paid defensive player in the league?

“The sources that put that out there likely came from within the organization. So I’ll leave it at that. If the source was within the organization they know what it was.”


Can you say what the offer was?

“I don’t want to say what the offer was.”

You expect the team to franchise him and then try to trade him?

“I’m not sure. I don’t know what they are going to do because this is a new situation they are in. We are preparing for whatever situation happens.”

Coming out with this news now, doesn’t this limit what the Panthers can get in return for Julius if they franchise him?

“I don’t know that it limits them. I feel that they, in the months that Julius did not sign, have been potentially preparing themselves for this scenario. And so I can’t say what there strategy will be.”

What teams does want to play for?

“There are a handful of teams. He wants to play for a team which is athleticism can be used to his fullest potential. For Julius Peppers that represents a handful of teams, but we’re not discussing who those teams are.”

Has the team given you permission to broker a trade?

“It has not gotten that far. There are steps to this process. The first step is really for the organization and what they want to do (franchise him or not) and that is coming in about three weeks. We'll see where they are going to go with their options. And then we will go the next step after that. From our point we’re not doing anything between now and the time the team makes the decision. And we can’t because Julius is under contract until February 26. That needs to be clear. A lot of people think that when he walks off the field the last time, he’s done. Well his contract goes through Feb. 26.”

Once they put the franchise tag on then you can work as a broker to find a trade partner?

“Once the franchise tag is on him and free agency opens and his contract expires that does loosen up the ability to communicate.”

Is there any part of this where he just wants to get out of Carolina where he isn't recognized on a daily basis -- to go to a place where he can get lost, so to speak?

"Um, you know, the easiest thing in all of this with Julius, the team and me is for him to stay put in Caorlina. This route is the hard route. Carolina is home and where he spent all of his life. He has property there and family there. This is him not taking the easy way out. If anything this is the harder decision rather than the easier one."

If the Panthers put the franchise tag on him and try to trade him and can't get enough in return would Julius hold out?

"We're taking this one step at a time. We're not jumping three steps from now. Right now we are awaiting the period in which the Panthers decide what to do. We're not getting ahead of ourselves."

What if the Panthers switched to a 3-4 defense. Would he stay?

"Julius has given a huge portion of his career to the Carolina Panthers and he feels that he has done all that he can do there and this is more about him trying it another way. For him that means trying it outside of the Carolina Panthers organization."

So he does not, under any circumstance, want to come back at all?

"Right. He's ready to move on."
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