Peppers's Contract Reworked

[Mongo3451]

It doesn't mean anything more than it did before the reworked his contract. They needed about $2 mil in cap space just for maneuvering during the season. Now that the season has begun, every single cap hit counts. That means that if a player gets injured and they need to replace him, they need cap space to pay both the guy on IR and the new guy.

 

Does this mean anything about their future intentions toward Peppers? No. Absolutely not. It would only mean something if they had pushed more of this year's cap into the future. As it is now, it only increases his cap hit in each of the next 2 years by $1 mil each. Considering how many guys are going to need new contracts, $1 mil in cap space isn't going to keep even one guy that otherwise might be lost.

 

As for Peppers' long term prospects with the Bears, I am quite sure that nothing is set in stone. I'm pretty sure that his play will be evaluated after the season and then a determination will be made. While his cap hits are higher than most players in the league, much of that is due to past contract re-negotiations to gain cap space. If a team starts doing re-negotiations like this and then releases the player the following year, the team is going to lose the good will of the players and they will decline to renegotiate when asked.

 

IMO for Peppers to be released, his play has to fall off a cliff and /or be injured. His dead money next year if released (after this renegotiation) is $8.36 million. That's an awful big cap hit to cover for a guy not playing for you.

 

One more aside - Cliff Stein is really good at his job, but the decision making resides with the GM. I think many don't want to give Angelo any credit for anything, but it was really his conservative approach that kept us so well off with the cap for so long. Angelo really didn't shop in the premium echelon during free agency other than Tait, Moose, and Peppers. He also only made it to the SB once.

 

It's still too early to tell Emery's cap management style since he's still doing a roster make over. They could have easily gained the cap space they needed by releasing E. Bennett or Devin Hester, or extending the contracts of Tillman, or Jennings, or Marshall, or Cutler.

Great info and thanks...

[LT2_3]

There are a bunch of guys who they'll need to keep. Conte, Wright, Jennings, Slauson, Wootton and more are players who could all have big seasons who may need to be retained.

 

No doubt - but 1 mil more off what they would have had available anyway isn't going to affect their decision making.

[LT2_3]

Altough he did try a few others that didn't work out; Chester Taylor, Brandon Manumanluena and Orlando Pace to name a few. But I agree sometimes Angelo didn't get enough credit for some of the good he did do. Bringing Peppers to Chicago was one of them.

 

Thanks for the explanation. It does help me better understand some of the 'behind the scenes'.

 

Those guys aren't upper echelon guys.

 

Is it safe to call Peppers one of the best 4-3 DEs in the league? I think so. Sure you wish you could pay him less right now, but is it even possible to replace him?

 

No problem on the explanation. I enjoy explaining it.

 

 

[madlithuanian]

Your efforts are always appreciated!

 

Those guys aren't upper echelon guys.

 

Is it safe to call Peppers one of the best 4-3 DEs in the league? I think so. Sure you wish you could pay him less right now, but is it even possible to replace him?

 

No problem on the explanation. I enjoy explaining it.

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Those guys aren't upper echelon guys.

 

Is it safe to call Peppers one of the best 4-3 DEs in the league? I think so. Sure you wish you could pay him less right now, but is it even possible to replace him?

 

No problem on the explanation. I enjoy explaining it.

 

So to go contrary to my own advice, I'm going to swing at the dying horse.

 

I think an arguement could be made that Pace was considered an "upper echelon" guy. He was very similar to Michael Oher until he came to the Bears. It would be as if the Bears would have somehow brought Oher to the team this year, he is no doubt declining and probably wouldn't be considered 'top tier' any longer. However for so many years he has been a steady lynchpin in the Raven's offensive line.

 

As could the case be made for Chester Taylor. He was a 1,000 yard back, unfortunately for him had to play second fiddle to AP. When he got to Chicago, he didn't live up to the hope. So far Bush and Taylor are very similar in a lot of ways. I hope more for Bush and feel he'll come through this year.

 

Manumanuleuena I'll agree was not. Had flickers of greatness in St Louis but nothing sustained.

 

Peppers is in the perfect place...Chicago. I almost wonder if he would be better as a stand up OLB? I know a lot of the former 'hand in the dirt' DE's that are making the transition (seems to be a trend) are liking it. Maybe if/when the team changes to at 3-4? I could see McClellin benefitting from that.

[LT2_3]

So to go contrary to my own advice, I'm going to swing at the dying horse.

 

I think an arguement could be made that Pace was considered an "upper echelon" guy. He was very similar to Michael Oher until he came to the Bears. It would be as if the Bears would have somehow brought Oher to the team this year, he is no doubt declining and probably wouldn't be considered 'top tier' any longer. However for so many years he has been a steady lynchpin in the Raven's offensive line.

 

As could the case be made for Chester Taylor. He was a 1,000 yard back, unfortunately for him had to play second fiddle to AP. When he got to Chicago, he didn't live up to the hope. So far Bush and Taylor are very similar in a lot of ways. I hope more for Bush and feel he'll come through this year.

 

Manumanuleuena I'll agree was not. Had flickers of greatness in St Louis but nothing sustained.

 

I was referring to high echelon in terms of financial investment. Pace signed a 3 year $15 mil contract. Top end OT money back then was in $9 mil per year range. If he was still playing at top form, the Rams would never have let him go. 2009 was his 12th year in the league.

 

Chester Taylor signed a 4 year $12.4 million contract - to be Forte's backup in his 8th year in the league. Hardly breaking the bank.

 

Those are two of Angelo's "take a medium chance on an aging vet" pickups that saved us lots of cap space, but didn't help us any. I'm not saying there were significantly better options available even at a much higher price, but the conservative approach didn't get the job done even though we were in great cap shape. It's kind of one of those "so I've got that goin for me - which is nice."

 

Peppers is in the perfect place...Chicago. I almost wonder if he would be better as a stand up OLB? I know a lot of the former 'hand in the dirt' DE's that are making the transition (seems to be a trend) are liking it. Maybe if/when the team changes to at 3-4? I could see McClellin benefitting from that.

 

I'm not putting Shea in the same ballpark, but they're both pretty good athletes in general. I think Peppers would be pretty good no matter what he plays. But I think he would be better doing what he's refined for so many years. And Shea is still learning a new position as he used to be more of a stand up LB.

 

 

 

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

I was referring to high echelon in terms of financial investment.

 

Ah, understood.

 

 

['TD']

I'd been happy if they just cut him this year and had the money next year to help keep players and bring new people in.