Julius Peppers Will Stay in Carolina
June 24, 2009 by David Kindervater
Filed under Carolina Panthers
Any speculation about the Carolina Panthers trading All-Pro defensive end Julius Peppers can be put to rest now. Julius signed his one-year, $16.7 million franchise tender today—about five months after he said he wanted to be traded from the Panthers.
Julius Peppers, Carolina Panthers / Image: Zuma Press
Yes, Julius said he would never sign a long-term contract with Carolina and begged the team not to place the franchise tag on him. Of course, they did it anyway, understanding the exorbitant amount of money they would have to pay him. It also meant another team couldn’t sign him unless it gave Carolina two first-round draft picks in return. And obviously, nobody was willing to go that far.
In a statement released by his agent, Julius said:
“Recently, I’ve had positive and productive discussions with the organization. I am optimistic and focused as I look forward to the upcoming NFL season.”
If I were set to make $16.7 million this year, I’d be pretty optimistic, too. Do the math. Julius is set to make more than $1 million per game. And he’ll need to have a career season to reward the risk.
Source: Panthers.com
