Sacramento Bee speculation

April 29, 2009

Peppers on the table

Now that the draft is over, the 49ers will trade for:
A. Braylon Edwards
B. Anquan Boldin
C. Julius Peppers
D. None of the above.

The correct outcome likely will be D. But C makes an awful lot of sense. Consider the following: The 49ers did not select an outside linebacker/pass rusher in the draft nor did they pick one up in free agency. Peppers, meanwhile, had 14 ½ sacks last year and has made no secret that he not only wants out of Carolina but would prefer to play for a team that uses a 3-4 defense. Paging coach Manusky ...
But wait, there's more. The Panther's have made a franchise tender offer that would pay Peppers a whopping $16.683 million in 2009. Peppers doesn't want to sign it and the Panthers have been hamstrung, salary-cap wise, because of it. The team is holding a three-day minicamp this weekend and no one in the organization is sure whether Peppers will show up. Meanwhile the 49ers shopped lightly in free agency this year and still have plenty of salary-cap space, certainly enough to ink Peppers, 29, to a long-term deal.
I don't know whether the 49ers are seriously considering Peppers. And I don't know whether they even envision Peppers as a stand-up, 3-4 outside linebacker. What I do know is that the two GM's, Scot McCloughan and Marty Hurney, already have made a deal this week. McCloughan gave Hurney his second- and fourth-round picks Sunday for Hurney's first rounder next year. The Panthers used the second rounder to draft a ... wait for it ... pass rusher, Florida State's Everette Brown. It's not a stretch to view Brown as Peppers' eventual replacement.
What will it take to pry Peppers from the Panthers? Probably a first-round pick coupled with some combination of other draft picks and/or players. The Panthers don't have a first rounder next year because of their trade with the 49ers. The 49ers, meanwhile, have two first rounders. Could they give one of them right back to Carolina for Peppers? Like I said, it makes an awful lot of sense.
-- Matt Barrows

 

Julius Peppers has skipped the start of the Panthers' 3-day mini-camp, and it looks like he has no intentions of showing up at all. Unfortunately for the Panthers, there's really not a whole lot they can do about it. he still hasn't signed the franchise tender that they slapped on him earlier in the offseason, so they technically can't fine him for not showing up.

It looks like Peppers is still trying to get traded, since the Panthers seem very reluctant to give him the long-term deal that he is hoping for.

Several teams were rumored to be interested before the draft, and that's probably when a trade would have made the most sense, since draft picks are very flexible in terms of trade value, where as they become less valuable in a trade once the player is actually selected, since he might not fit into some teams' schemes.

From ESPN In$ider:


Via Pro Football Talk, we learn that Julius Peppers will reportedly skip mini-camp.
While players do somewhat regularly skip mini-camp, the fact that Peppers has made it known repeatedly he'd like out of Carolina, coupled with the fact that the Panthers drafted DE Everette Brown last week, makes it another move in the ongoing drama between arguably the league's freakiest athlete and his career-long squad.
So, where to?
The Pats keeps getting floated, but it's nearly impossible logistically for that to happen.
An interesting point is made here in that, while the 49ers will probably stay out of the remaining big-time 'I wanna be traded' guys, Peppers would be a good fit there for a few reasons: salary cap, and the familiarity of the GMs with each other.
It should be noted that Peppers held out of mini-camp in the 2007 season as well.
This might not be possible logistically either, but Patrick Kerney is a little banged up for the Seahawks, so perhaps that team would be interested in a fierce DE as they enter a psuedo-rebuilding period with Jim Mora.

It should be interesting to see what happens to Peppers, and where he winds up. He's still one of the premier pass rushers in the league, and he has shown the willingness to switch to OLB in a 3-4 scheme, if necessary. He is probably fast enough to pull it off, and could be an excellent addition to almost any team. What kind of trade would make sense for the Panthers? They just invested a ton of money in QB Jake Delhomme, and clearly think that they are set up to win very soon. Can they afford to remove Peppers from the fold? Or do they need to sign him at all costs? I'm thinking the latter.


Peppers a no-show for start of Panthers minicamp

 

On a side note Matt Barrows looks like Jeff Garcia's aids stricken lover.

 

Nice knowledge of the situation there.

 

We're talking about Sacramento, here. It's the western Mecca of bullshit.

 

From Peter King this morning :

Ouch.

 

well, duh.

 

Looking at those stats shows that his best game last year by far was against the lowly Raiders. If you throw out the back to back games with the Raiders and Lions then his stats look a lot less impressive last year.....

 

Since it is becoming clear that IF he plays it will be as a Panther, I wonder how he will be received by the fans and local media. Should be interesting. The one thing working in our favor is that he does have some motivation to have a decent season considering he is playing for a contract.