HardHittingRoy31
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When making our weekly appearance with Chris McClain on WFNZ (the station that hosted the all-time classic "move on or move out" moment), we were discussing the possibility that the Panthers have refrained from adding many new free agents this year because they soon will have to address the long-term status of defensive end Julius Peppers and left tackle Jordan Gross.
Peppers and Gross are both entering the final seasons of their rookie contracts. Peppers has a cap number in 2007 of nearly $15 million. This means that, if the team decides to use the franchise tag on Peppers in 2008, his one-year salary will be nearly $18 million.
Gross is a solid left tackle. And solid left tackles rarely are available in free agency; when they are, they get paid a lot of money, as Leonard Davis learned last month.
To complicate matters, there were strong rumors last year that Steve Smith is quietly pissed off about his contract. He signed an extension in 2004, before his breakout season of 2005. With three years left at salaries of $3.15 million, $3.6 million, and $4.2 million, Smith obviously is underpaid in comparison to the money spent this year on guys like Drew Bennett and Kevin Curtis.
So what will the Panthers do? Surely, they can't break the bank for all three of them. And the Panthers haven't won enough big games to persuade players to give the team a discount in order to continue a culture of championships.
Each guy is going to want to get paid, and the Panthers can't pay them all. The fact that Smith has yet to get an adjustment to his deal suggests to us that he's going to be the odd man out, with the Panthers more likely to invest the long-term dollars into the players who, based on the positions they occupy, will be more likely to continue to perform at a high level as they age.
The best strategy would be to get Peppers signed early in 2008 and to use the tag on Gross. Then, they should trade Smith before he goes ballistic once he sees how much money two members of the team not named Stevonne Smith will be making.
Bottom line -- this is the reality of having very good players at multiple positions at the same time. There are only so many guys on a team who can get paid really big money, and someone in the front office should be answering tough questions about the negotiation of Peppers' rookie contract, which has now put the team in a very sticky situation for 2007 and for 2008.link
rofootballtalk.com
Peppers and Gross are both entering the final seasons of their rookie contracts. Peppers has a cap number in 2007 of nearly $15 million. This means that, if the team decides to use the franchise tag on Peppers in 2008, his one-year salary will be nearly $18 million.
Gross is a solid left tackle. And solid left tackles rarely are available in free agency; when they are, they get paid a lot of money, as Leonard Davis learned last month.
To complicate matters, there were strong rumors last year that Steve Smith is quietly pissed off about his contract. He signed an extension in 2004, before his breakout season of 2005. With three years left at salaries of $3.15 million, $3.6 million, and $4.2 million, Smith obviously is underpaid in comparison to the money spent this year on guys like Drew Bennett and Kevin Curtis.
So what will the Panthers do? Surely, they can't break the bank for all three of them. And the Panthers haven't won enough big games to persuade players to give the team a discount in order to continue a culture of championships.
Each guy is going to want to get paid, and the Panthers can't pay them all. The fact that Smith has yet to get an adjustment to his deal suggests to us that he's going to be the odd man out, with the Panthers more likely to invest the long-term dollars into the players who, based on the positions they occupy, will be more likely to continue to perform at a high level as they age.
The best strategy would be to get Peppers signed early in 2008 and to use the tag on Gross. Then, they should trade Smith before he goes ballistic once he sees how much money two members of the team not named Stevonne Smith will be making.
Bottom line -- this is the reality of having very good players at multiple positions at the same time. There are only so many guys on a team who can get paid really big money, and someone in the front office should be answering tough questions about the negotiation of Peppers' rookie contract, which has now put the team in a very sticky situation for 2007 and for 2008.link
rofootballtalk.com
