For all the we speculate on the Pats need for a pass rusher, it’s looking like Julius Peppers isn’t going to be a Patriot.
We knew it was a long short to start with. The team still has to work out Wilfork’s extension after franchising him last Monday. Then there’s the franchise quarterback who’s heading into the last year of his deal. Basically with those two needing to get their contracts done, Peppers was a fantasy to begin with.
But Jay, where will Peppers go? The Pats are the perfect fit.
You’re correct, the Pats are a perfect fit, player wise. They need a pass rusher, Peppers is the best in the business. But because of the aforementioned contracts needing to get done they can’t afford to pay Peppers $10 million a year (or whatever it comes out to be) in addition to Wilfork and Brady.
It appears that Peppers is going to land in Washington. Here’s my issue. The Redskins paid Haynesworth $100 million last off season and they still sucked. Adding Peppers would make their D-Line the best in the league but they’d still suck. They have relatively nothing on the offensive side of the ball. Peppers wants to leave Carolina because he won’t win a championship there since he has a shitty quarterback. He’d be walking into the same situation in colder weather with Washington.
If his goal is to truly win a championship then I would think he’d make a strong play to become a Patriot. You figure if they can snag him for $8 million a year with a hefty signing bonus, they could make the numbers work even with Brady and Wilfork. Hell, if they cut Thomas, that’s like free money they can use on Peppers. Remember, no cap means no cap penalties.
So even though we all want Peppers to come to Foxboro, it’s not looking likely and Peppers could be a Redskin as soon as Friday. Maybe Jason Taylor could be a band-aid until they develop another guy. We’ll see. Free agent bonanza starts Friday.
