The Peppers/Gross Situation

It’s coming down to the wire, but all is not said and done when it comes to two of the Panthers’ best players, defensive end  Julius Peppers and offensive tackle Jordan Gross. Ideally, the Panthers would like to have both Peppers and Gross return for next year’s season, but with Peppers already requesting his departure from Carolina, that is not likely to happen. The Panthers have just one franchise tag to use in the next few days, and it’s looking like that will go to Julius Peppers while the Panthers negotiate a deal to keep Gross in Carolina blue for next season.

Peppers has already said that if he does get slapped with the franchise tag, he will request a trade. While Peppers does not have all the say when it comes to who he’ll be playing for next year, the all-star player did recently say that “if it was my decision, this is what I would do: Jordan Gross has come and stated that he wants to sign an extension with the Panthers. We’ve got one player who says he does and one player that says he wants to move on and try something different. If I was in that situation, I would try to accommodate the guy that wants to be there, number one priority.” Coach Peppers, you may be right; the Panthers are said to be close to making a deal with Gross, who is expected to walk away with a contract of close to $9 million a year (the second-highest contract for an offensive lineman, behind Dolphins OT Jake Long.)

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