Uncertainty Surrounding Peppers

Despite a devastating loss last week to the Arizona Cardinals that knocked the Carolina Panthers out of the playoffs, Julius Peppers is still sitting pretty, coming off a season with a career-high 14.5 sacks in and being hailed one of Carolina’s best defensive players, selected to play in his fourth Pro Bowl. The defensive end’s contract will expire on February 26, leaving his fate with the Panthers in the air as he is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next month. With a disappointing end to the season with Carolina and with other teams scouting him out, one question arises: will Julius Peppers return to the Panthers next season?

If Carolina isn’t able to sign the very pricey Peppers to a long-term contract extension before his contract expires, the team could put a franchise tag on him, which would go for a price tag of around $17 million (he’s expected to make at least $13 million per season – one of the highest-paid defensive players in the league.) If Peppers is franchised, Carolina could either trade him to another team for one or two high draft picks (the Panthers gave up a first-round pick entering last year’s NFL draft to get tackle Jeff Otah from Philadelphia) or have him play under a one-year offer in 2009 as tackle Jordan Gross did this year. As of right now, nothing is for certain, so stick around for the latest news on Julius Peppers and the Carolina Panthers!

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