http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4937632 "If the Panthers had opted to tag Peppers, it would have cost them $21.4 million -- about $1.3 million per game -- which the team deemed too pricey. Peppers will be one of the highest-profile free agents since Reggie White" So....do we make a play at him at all? He will be pricey....but if it doesn't cost us a draft pick it would be hard to not at least take a swipe at him.
I would say no personally, gonna cost to much - would rather have Dansby and try and draft some OLBs.
yeah, this is the guy I see us going after. I think Dansby is the second choice. We can only afford one and I think Peppers will be the guy we target. His play hasnt been spectacular as of late but I dont think its physical. I think its been mental. A new home could do wonders for the guy's game
Really over the last 2 years he has had 25 sacks, 10 FF, 2 INTs, and one TD i think that is pretty great. He has only had one bad year as a pro and that was in 2007. the type of athlete Peppers is i think he would make a good move to OLB. i dont see why people dont care that he goes to the pats or the Jets IMO that would really suck for us i think he will have pretty much no problem at all making the move to WOLB or SOLB
As one of the "final 8" the Jets wont be able to sign him, and Im not sure the Pats have the money since they need to work a deal with Vince, and then with Brady.
Yeah keeping him away from not just our division but other AFC rivals is a good reason to make a run at him. If one of our division foes or playoff caliber AFC rivals gets him the road to the Superbowl is a lot harder. He's a legit defensive game changer, yeah he's going to cost a ton to sign but then again he's the best free agent available and if he were on our team already I'd want our front office to pony up for him. He's one of the most talented players to hit UFA in a long time IMHO.
He scares me a bit, he has been looking for the big paycheck and I can't keep wondering that he will be one of those guys that lets himself get out of shape after signing. He had a good year last year, but the cost would be to high, we need more than just one player.
I think the FO will do their due diligence and at least inquire. I definitely don't want to give up any picks, and cost is also obviously a factor (although, maybe less so in an uncapped year?). But, you can't deny his talent and what he would bring to Nolan's defense. I would love to see him wearing aqua and orange. Pretty sure Dirty Sanchez and Tammy Brady wouldn't be too thrilled about it too.
I don't see peppers being a good fit for us we need linebackers on this defense and he has never done that always played in a 4-3 scheme with his hand on the ground he is a great player there is no doubt but he is 30 now and i dont like the idea of going after a guy who doesnt fit your scheme he says he can play in a 3-4 but of course he will say that cause he wants a job and the nfl is heavily loaded with that scheme i say stay away from peppers and stay focused on your true needs
In theory the Pats could sign him. However, him and Wilfork would cost at least $50 million immediately out of the owners pocket if they sign long term deals. That's a heck of a lot of money for one person to part with at one time. While there's no salary cap, people still only have a finite amount of money available to give to players.
You could say the same about a lot of 3-4 OLBs. Most of them have played with their hand on the ground until they go to a 3-4 team.
really? a lot of 3-4 lb's have done this huh? give me a list please and by all means don't waste my time if they are under 30
I like Peppers as a player, but I don't like the idea of importing a 30 year old guy who has never played OLB in the 3-4 and assuming he'll suddenly fix everything we've done. Peppers is at a similar point of his career to a guy like Joey Porter when he first signed with us. While I love what porter did in 2008 it's hard not to call the rest of his tenure in Miami a disappointment. I think teams are in for a similar type of situation with Peppers. It's nigh on impossible for him to live up to expectations.
Peppers in Miami is a bad idea. We need to get younger and rebuild the defense, not patch it up for one final SB win. Plus, Peppers just wants to get paid. If anyone has followed him in the media, his talk speaks volumes. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4899375 SINCERITY? He didnt feel the SINCERITY in Carolina offering to make him SLIGHTLY the highest paid defensive player in the league? SINCERITY? Ohhhh.... Now hes a saint. They offered me to be the highest paid defensive player in the league, but not only wasnt it sincere, but I dont deserve it. So carolina AGAIN offered him another long term deal, but Peppers again didnt want it. I dont want any piece of Peppers. He has no OLB experience, he obviously wants to get paid a lot of money, and he is over 30. His whiney nature reminds me of Joey Porter.
I didn't argue anything about age. You said: Which is true about about pretty much every 3-4 OLB because most all of them were 4-3 DEs in college. So I fail to see how that is a knock. Jason Taylor played almost exclusively with his hand on the ground in Miami until Saban took over. You want to knock age, fine. But just because he's always played with his hand on the ground doesn't mean he can't stand up.
I asked for a list of guys who played the majority of their career in the NFL in the 4-3 and then made the transition to OLB in the 3-4. You said most guys have done it. Then all you can give me is JT. I don't care about guys who played it in college and went to the NFL and became a LB immediately. That happens all the time but that is not the crux of the argument. I said Peppers is not a good fit because he has never played LB in the NFL. Your response was most 3-4 LB's do this. That is a false statement. Back it up with a list please.
It's not a false statement at all. You want to put limits on the sample size now that I called out what you said, but I'm not playing this game. **** it, you win. Congrats on changing the argument. Greg Ellis, Calvin Pace, Matt Roth, Tamba Hali, and Elvis Dumervil say hi though.
I did win because julius peppers is a bad fit for the Dolphins. This team needs linebackers not a 30 year old DE who has to make a transition. That would be a complete waste of time and money. Give me a young guy Nolan can mold and develop. As for a veteran I'm all for going after Dansby because he fills a need. plus he already knows the position and is proven there. Peppers. nope.
I'm not sure how Peppers wouldn't fill a need .... with either spot duty as a DE or as SOLB for our system. I'm confident that he could do both successfully -- especially since Roth has been the most successful to date, and Peppers > Roth. Now, if you want to argue Nolan's system, $$$$$ or long term solution ... then it changes things. Equally, i would take Merriman everyday of the week over Peppers for our purposes - but you can't compare them directly, since they are vastly different players. But one thing is clear .... we will not get to the SB until we find our game changing OLB. To me there is no higher priority position on this team - Not ILB, WR, NT or S ...
i have repeatedly said this but no one seems to listen our biggest need is a strong disrupting outside linebacker who can change games i would love to see wake be the guy but he is a project the position right now is in shambles most here seem to want to rely on jason taylor to get the job done but those are just player fans hoping he extends his worn out career anderson and moses are good depth but nothing more we have nothing at the olb position. i dont understand how hard it is to see this
Why so mean? I swear this sounds like Randy Moss. "Don't sign him, he's a head case". Guy catches 23 touchdowns. Warren Sapp got passed and turned in a Hall of Fame career. Dan Marino got passed by 20+ teams and turned into the best quarterback ever (no apologies to anyone). At some point you can't use the cop out and hide behind behavior. Good coaches and FO's motivate players and get them in competitive spirit. It's the same with us and Brandon Marshall talks. If you haven't noticed, a lot of NFL players are crazy. Except ours. Which is why we always have franchise tags collecting dust. We don't take chances and we end up with Paul Soliai. We have one crazy guy, his name is Ricky, he had a 1,000+ yard season starting only 7 games at 32. I implore you fans, toss some caution to the wind! Let loose. What happens if we build safely through the draft and get all busts? I'm saying at least get one or two sure bets for production. By the way, I'm not necessarily advocating signing Peppers, I'm just tired of Dolphins fans acting like children afraid of the bogeyman.
i never said we should make a run at him so he doesnt go to one of our Divsion Rivals because that would be a stupid reason to sign someone the only reason i want him is because he is a freak of a athlete and IMO he wont have much trouble at all moving the OLB in the 3-4. But i dont want to make a run at him just because the Bill, Jets, or Pats want him and i dont want to make a run at him if he is going to cost us a lot of money.
Killer, agree 100% with you and stated such all last offseason and thru this past season. Wake is a project ... but i don't envision him doing much else than being a special pass rusher at this point -- time will tell, but much needs to be seen. JT, well not much to say there either .... he is a fan favorite, and as such - some just can't let go .... equally, he did play respectable last year -- but that doesn't mean that i want him as our SOLB again this year. I would much rather have Peppers than JT, but neither is what i would like to see at OLB. My real disappointment is that we didn't draft one last year .... i was good with Davis in rd 1 ... but rd 2 should have been an OLB, no question about it. This year we'll cover that ... guess we'll see how it works out.
I never said to pick up a bad player to keep them away, that is dumb, but signing a player that fills your needs and keeping him away from rivals sounds like a pretty good way to stay ahead of your division. If he goes to an AFC East rival they immediately get better, letting your division rivals get better when you have a chance to better yourself and slow them down in the process is pretty stupid. We should at least try.
Peppers said he wants to play for the pats and TO wants to be a pat aswell. Moss TO AND Welker would be ugly for def to keep in control. Typed from my phone.
Very well put. Agree with you, we are still a year or two away from a serious SB run, by then, he would be 33 or so, we need to stick to building this team through the draft. Although I am still hoping to see us sign Dansby, because he'll come much cheaper IMO and this just seems to be a very weak draft for ILB's.
I honestly don't see us taking a run at him. I think if we sign anyone in FA it will be Dansby, just based on what's been hinted. That would leave us free to go after an OLB at #12 overall. Peppers ends up a Patriot, IMO.
Peppers has Philly written all over him, they have cash and do not mind paying FA's. The patsies are notoriously cheap.