Missing the playoffs for the first time in five years seems to have sparked a burning desire in the New England front office to bring in every available player this offseason. After already signing Fred Taylor, Joey Galloway, Shawn Springs, Greg Lewis and Leigh Bodden, NFL.com's Vic Carucci passes along the information that the Patriots may be ready to take a run at Carolina Panthers franchise player Julius Peppers. That sound you're hearing is the opposing AFC East quarterbacks gently sobbing into their pillows.
From Carucci:
The trade that sent Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel to the Kansas City Chiefs appears to be only the first phase of some major wheeling and dealing by the New England Patriots this offseason. The second phase, NFL sources say, is likely to involve a trade that would send Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers to the Patriots in exchange for the second-round pick (34th overall) they received from the Chiefs on Feb. 28. According to league sources, the Patriots and Panthers are hoping to complete the deal at some point between the March 22-25 NFL owners meetings and the start of the draft on April 25.Assuming this actually happens, the Patriots would use Peppers as a stand up outside linebacker in their 3-4 defensive scheme, which is a terrifying thought if you're an opposing quarterback. Peppers, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2002 NFL draft, has averaged roughly 10 sacks per season in his career, and is coming off a 2008 campaign where he registered a career-high 14.5 -- all as a down defensive lineman.
Putting him into a system, and a position, that is designed to match him up one-on-one with tight ends or running backs -- or, ideally, leaves him unblocked -- seems like a perfect fit for his pass rushing skills.
The Patriots tallied 31 sacks as a team in 2008 -- 15th in the NFL -- while only 10 came from the linebacker position, including four from the recently-traded Mike Vrabel.
The rumored return of a second-round pick (the selection received from Kansas City in the Cassel-Vrabel swap) seems like an absolute steal for the Patriots. They already have three second-round picks this year, and will likely be receiving a third-round selection for the free agent departure of Asante Samuel. It's not like they can't afford to give up one of those high picks to land a disruptive pass-rusher to bring off the edge.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-16-2009 @ 5:45PM
KingMundo said...
this will be a stupid move by the panthers
look at what the cheifs got for jared allen
and peppers is a wayy better talent than he is
its plain crazy if carolina makes this trade for a crappy 2nd round pick even though its early in the round.I will lose all respect for the panthers as a franchise if thats all they get and why would you better a team like the pats,the owner ship should be smarter than this and even have a grudge against the pats for beating them in the superbowl.
At least get a kind of deal allen got if not abbter than that
Reply
3-16-2009 @ 5:46PM
lazyindiankid4 said...
As a redskins fan..man i wish we could be as good as the Pats. They are insane football team, and if they make peppers come to them.They are just gonna get better.I'll bet anyone $20 bucks that they r going to the Super Bowl this year.
Reply
3-16-2009 @ 6:09PM
Welcome,Clairway said...
To be sure they arent that stupid... i will no longer be a Panther fan if we give up / in this easy...ANYBODY will give up 2 1st rounders for Pep, and we are desperate for a qb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply
3-16-2009 @ 6:21PM
bears0492 said...
2 first round picks? I don't think you realize that a franchised player can be picked up for 2 first round picks, regardless if the team is willing to trade him or not.
Let's not forget that Peppers has almost experience as an OLB. He's stiff and probably can't cover very well. The pats are taking a bit of a risk here, assuming that Peppers will be able to play the OLB position.
Not only that, but Peppers is going to turn 30 soon, and that's typically where players start to decline. When Jared Allen was traded last season, he was around 26. The pats are definitely getting Peppers at less than he's valued, but that's only because there isn't as much interest as you may expect.
3-16-2009 @ 6:40PM
That Guy said...
As a Pats fan, I can't believe how many moves the organization has made up to this point. Chris Baker, Leigh Bodden, Joey Galloway, Greg Lewis, Shawn Springs, Fred Taylor, and more...all without Scott Pioli. I just hope they can re-sign players like Vince Wilfork and draft more offensive lineman (Matt Light Haters Club, anyone?). I hope all these new faces work together because there is nothing worse than trying to build a strong team on just free agency signings (i.e. Skins in the past).
If the Pats can make this trade for Julius Peppers happen, I hope restructuring the contract to one or two years at a lower price is not a big problem. I think it's about a 95% chance that Seymour is dropped after this season because his production is starting to really slip. As for bears0492, I'd rather have Peppers' rush attack and coverage skills when compared to Pierre Woods...who's Pierre Woods you ask? Exactly.
Reply
3-16-2009 @ 6:52PM
soulcitysigma1914 said...
i agree w/ much of what has been said. this is going to be quite a weak trade if all we get is a second round pick for Pepp. as of 6:45 pm EST by the way, Wikipedia has Pepp listed as a Patriot, though nothing official has taken place yet, so as a librarian I must advise you all to be leary of what you see on the internet. LOL
if the pats have 3 second rounders to spare, and we have no first round pick this year, then we should DEMAND two second rounders as far as i'm concerned. for pep, that's still a steal, and it should free up some cap room for us and let us sign some decent 2nd rounders that can compete for starting jobs.
gotta disagree w/ the guy though that considers pep's age to be a factor. a lot of these d-linemen and linebackers play some really good ball into their mid 30s; Pep will definitely be one of those guys. I think Pep will play quality ball until he's about 35 at least, so since he's 29, that's 6 good years. and the pats are a team that will do a lot in 6 years time
Reply
3-17-2009 @ 9:35AM
papam11 said...
For just a second round pick???? Think again. I think the Pats would be making a huge mistake. I believe they have 5 picks in the upcoming draft within the first 90 picks. Signing Peppers would eat up most, if not all, of their cap space and leave nothing to sign draftees or the defensive guys they have coming up for new contracts next year. I don't get it.
Reply
3-17-2009 @ 1:47PM
caninescreed said...
Seems to me that teams are preferring the high second round picks as better value. So the Panthers are getting picks simply for agreeing to the trade, rather than keep Peppers? Is that what it boils down to? Peppers has already made it known he does not want to play for Carolina, so why would Carolina want to keep him? And pay a boatload of money for a player that does not want to be there? So maybe getting a second round pick for a player that does not want to play for you and getting 16-17 mil off your cap is not such a bad deal. Also, remember that Peppers will not just go anywhere, so that may limit the draft picks. Of the list of teams he is willing to go to, maybe NE has the best offer? I'm not convinced it will work out. NE will not pay him more than Brady and they have several other productive defensive players that are going to want to get paid next year. How can they justify paying peppers a boatload of money while the guys that have helped them win championships are not getting paid that kind of dough?
Reply