Peppers to skip mandatory minicamp

Report: Peppers To Skip Minicamp
Posted by Aaron Wilson on April 30, 2009, 8:00 p.m.

Disgruntled veteran defensive end Julius Peppers plans to skip the Carolina Panthers’ mandatory minicamp that begins Friday, according to Steve Reed of CarolinaGrowl.com.

The report, which cites two league sources, said Peppers’ absence was anticipated.

Peppers has made it clear through his agent, Carl Carey, that he wants to be traded.

As an unsigned franchise player, the four-time Pro Bowl selection is not required to attend offseason activities.

Meanwhile, Panthers General Manager Marty Hurney indicated that he is conducting “positive conversations” with Carey.

Keep hope alive baby!

*cough* That doesn't increase the likelihood of Peppers becoming a Patriot.

I'm a little confused here. What is his official stance? If he wants them to trade him then why hasn't he signed the tender? If he wants a new contract, has he said so?

ctpatsfan77 said:

*cough* That doesn't increase the likelihood of Peppers becoming a Patriot.

Click to expand...

i agree if he dose not want to play for the panthers at 17mil he sure as hell ant playing for us at 8 mil a yer

Wildo7 said:

I'm a little confused here. What is his official stance? If he wants them to trade him then why hasn't he signed the tender? If he wants a new contract, why hasn't he said so?

Click to expand...

if he sings the tender the panthers will hold all the cards hes 29 this is hes last big contract if he plays for the panthers at the 17 mill he may have a bad yer like 5 sacks then he wont get hes 100 mil plus 50 mil signing bonus that hes looking for nfl network said it hes looking for more then haynesworth got

He is going to get them to lift the tag. It is a game of chicken. I think he would be willing to sit out the year, not get paid and force the Panthers to swallow 17 million. If the panthers percieve he is serious enough to do that they may feel it would be best to lift the lag and let him go. If he signs the tender he gets paid but has no say in who he gets dealt to.

More reasons why i would not want him CLOSE to foxboro...It's all about the money.. He wants MORe than Haynesworth?? he can take his bag of money and *********

ctpatsfan77 said:

*cough* That doesn't increase the likelihood of Peppers becoming a Patriot.

Click to expand...

Not quite sure how him refusing to attend a mandatory minicamp doesn't increase the chance of him being some place else next fall.

Pats726 said:

More reasons why i would not want him CLOSE to foxboro...It's all about the money.. He wants MORe than Haynesworth?? he can take his bag of money and *********

Click to expand...

No one seems to know why he is doing all this, although it seems that lots of players absolutely hate getting franchised, even when it means a huge one year payday for them. There have been posts stating that this isn't all about the money, but rather his dislike of Carolina. Who knows, usually its all about the money, but occasionally an athlete surprises me and does it for other reasons.

Other posters also don't seem to get it. If his goal is to get out of Carolina, and end up with a team that he wants to play for, he can't sign the tender until he has an agreement with Carolina that they will send him to a team of his choice. Once he signs the tender he has no control over where he ends up, be it Carolina or any other team. I'm not quite sure how it works, but if I remember right, he can sit for something like 6 games, then sign the contract and come play for his original team, and still get "credit" for playing that year.

moosekill said:

No one seems to know why he is doing all this, although it seems that lots of players absolutely hate getting franchised, even when it means a huge one year payday for them. There have been posts stating that this isn't all about the money, but rather his dislike of Carolina. Who knows, usually its all about the money, but occasionally an athlete surprises me and does it for other reasons.

Other posters also don't seem to get it. If his goal is to get out of Carolina, and end up with a team that he wants to play for, he can't sign the tender until he has an agreement with Carolina that they will send him to a team of his choice. Once he signs the tender he has no control over where he ends up, be it Carolina or any other team. I'm not quite sure how it works, but if I remember right, he can sit for something like 6 games, then sign the contract and come play for his original team, and still get "credit" for playing that year.

Click to expand...

I believe they can sit out until Week 10 (I remember during the Assante drama from two summers ago) and then have to suit up/play.

I think for those last 6 games they would get paid a pro-rated version of the franchise tag. I could be wrong, but I think that's how the salary structure is. I'm definitely sure about the Week 10 issue.

How is it Madatory for Peppers?

He is technically a free agent, right?

Since Peppers hasn't signed the tender, why would he go to minicamp for a team he is not signed with.

patsfan-1982 said:

if he sings the tender the panthers will hold all the cards hes 29 this is hes last big contract if he plays for the panthers at the 17 mill he may have a bad yer like 5 sacks then he wont get hes 100 mil plus 50 mil signing bonus that hes looking for nfl network said it hes looking for more then haynesworth got

Click to expand...

Dude, you're not texting your BFF. Throw in some punctuation and grammer next time to make your entry readable.

sarge said:

How is it Madatory for Peppers?

He is technically a free agent, right?

Since Peppers hasn't signed the tender, why would he go to minicamp for a team he is not signed with.

Click to expand...

Exactly, Peppers isn't under contract so he wouldn't be allowed to go to a minicamp even if he wanted to, as I understand it. I believe that we can file this reporter under the "Doesn't understand NFL contract stuff" category.

I'd love to see Peppers coming off the edge for the Pats but I don't think that I can take this continuous speculation (myself included) much longer. I was as optimistic as anyone that it was going to happen but it's becoming clear that it just isn't. Carucci basically accepted defeat on the issue during his most recent EEI appearance. We should all do the same. Taylor is a much more realistic option. I should never have watched Peppers' '08 highlight video on youtube.

Patsgofor4 said:

I'd love to see Peppers coming off the edge for the Pats but I don't think that I can take this continuous speculation (myself included) much longer. I was as optimistic as anyone that it was going to happen but it's becoming clear that it just isn't. Carucci basically accepted defeat on the issue during his most recent EEI appearance. We should all do the same. Taylor is a much more realistic option. I should never have watched Peppers' '08 highlight video on youtube.

Click to expand...

08 highlight tape got you too ha... It probably is dead but I wouldn't put anything past bb.

Patsgofor4 said:

Dude, you're not texting your BFF. Throw in some punctuation and grammer next time to make your entry readable.

Click to expand...

That may be his best effort.

moosekill said:

Not quite sure how him refusing to attend a mandatory minicamp doesn't increase the chance of him being some place else next fall.

Click to expand...

He's not under contract, and has NOT signed the tender. Therefore, they can still remove the tender. Let's say he goes to the minicamp anyway, and suffers an ACL tear. Do you think the Panthers will still keep the tag on him?

In other words, it's mandatory for players under contract—which Peppers is not until he signs his tender.

SlipperyWhenWes said:

I believe they can sit out until Week 10 (I remember during the Assante drama from two summers ago) and then have to suit up/play.

I think for those last 6 games they would get paid a pro-rated version of the franchise tag. I could be wrong, but I think that's how the salary structure is. I'm definitely sure about the Week 10 issue.

Click to expand...

While that is technically true, it is hard to fathom the guy is going to turn down a million dollars a week to play the games. He may want out real bad, but $10M dollars bad? I doubt it.

patsfan-1982 said:

i agree if he dose not want to play for the panthers at 17mil he sure as hell ant playing for us at 8 mil a yer

Click to expand...

He actually doesn't want to play with the Panthers for any amount.

Pats726 said:

More reasons why i would not want him CLOSE to foxboro...It's all about the money.. He wants MORe than Haynesworth?? he can take his bag of money and *********

Click to expand...

Where does this article say anything about his contract demands?

SlipperyWhenWes said:

I believe they can sit out until Week 10 (I remember during the Assante drama from two summers ago) and then have to suit up/play.

I think for those last 6 games they would get paid a pro-rated version of the franchise tag. I could be wrong, but I think that's how the salary structure is. I'm definitely sure about the Week 10 issue.

Click to expand...

If a player doesn't sign the tender, they don't ever have to suit up. Most choose to by week 10, because that is the latest point that they can sign and still get the season count as accrued.

SSDD