Julius Peppers is A Hot Topic – Just Not With His Agent

This Julius Peppers nonsense has gone on just about long enough for all of us.  All Carolina Panthers fans want to talk about is Julius Peppers.  All there is to read about or hear about is Julius Peppers.

John Fox finally talked about him.  His agent, Carl Carey isn’t talking about him – anymore.

Let’s start with the coach.

"“Is Tom Brady’s cap number a burden (to the Patriots)? Is Eli Manning’s (a burden to the Giants?” said Fox. “I don’t know. It’s just part of what we do. Everybody has a cap number.“I don’t know what number (Peppers) was last year, but it had to be close (to the ’09 tender). I was comfortable with that. I don’t like getting into what people make, but he’s a Pro Bowl-caliber player who I’ve been comfortable with for seven seasons.”"

That huge $16.7 million hit on the salary cap isn’t going away but it is only 20% more than he made last season.  Wait a minute!  Is that 20% more?  That sounds like a high number, doesn’t it?

If the coach is happy with it, that’s fine but it sure is a chunk of change.

Now on to what may or may not happen to end this seemingly endless saga.

"“Let the system play out,” said Fox. “I can’t lean one way or the other. … We’ll see how it works out.”"

Okay, now we’re talking.  Give this thing time.  Let all the parties involved reach an agreement and let’s just let the system work.  What does that mean in the long run?  Who knows?  We should just all be hoping that it ends somehow, someway.

As for Carl Carey, the agent – he sent a text message to Darin Gantt.

"“Julius and I won’t be commenting further until there is something in the works or not in the works, regarding his status,” Carey wrote.  “When there is something more definitive, we will address it in the media. Until then, we won’t be commenting.”"

Well, he doesn’t want to talk anymore, huh?  Is he tired of it?  Do you suppose he’s as tired of talking about this as we are of hearing about it?  Either way, he’s going to be taking home a large commission check.

The sooner there is silence in this drama, the better.  Maybe Carey has the right idea.  Let’s just hope the silence can last for a while and maybe even permanently…soon!