have decided the price is too steep to keep their all-time sacks leader.
Five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers
is about to become one of the top prizes in free agency.
General manager Marty Hurney announced Tuesday
the team won’t place the restrictive franchise tag on Peppers for a
second consecutive year at a cost of at least $20.1 million.
“With the magnitude of the contact, the tender
that it would take to franchise him and how it fits into the big picture
with our team, we made the decision to not franchise him,” Hurney said.
“Obviously, it’s a very difficult decision because he’s a tremendous
player.”
The move came two days before the tag deadline.
Peppers will become an unrestricted free-agent on March 5, meaning the
Panthers will likely lose their top defensive player without
compensation.
“Last night, I learned that the Carolina
Panthers would not restrict my availability during the upcoming free
agency period,” Peppers said in a statement released Tuesday by his
agent, Carl Carey. “I feel good about having the opportunity to visit
with other teams. My goal will be to find the right match for my skill
set.
“I am thankful for the eight seasons I have
spent in the National Football League thus far and am looking forward to
beginning this new phase of my career.”
The decision is an about face from a year ago,
when the Panthers went against Peppers’ wishes to be allowed to leave in
free agency and gave him a one-year franchise tender worth $16.7
million. He made another $1.5 million for making the Pro Bowl after
recording 10 1/2 sacks.
Using the franchise tag again would have meant a
20 percent raise, with a guaranteed base salary of $20.1 million, not
counting a $1.5 million Pro Bowl bonus and $250,000 for each playoff
victory.
Even though there is scheduled to be no salary
cap next season in the final year of the collective bargaining
agreement, the Panthers decided against committing that much money to
one player.
“We franchised him last year in hopes of being
able to get a multiyear contract done,” Hurney said. “We made what I
would term a very aggressive effort to do that and did not get it done.
“I think we have some very talented players
and their futures will have to be addressed at some point. All those
factors come into play. It’s a hard decision. It’s one that we took time
on.”
While the Panthers could still sign Peppers in
free agency, Hurney acknowledged that “when a player of Julius’ caliber
gets to this point, I think seldom does it happen that they return.”
Added Carey: “He is convinced that with this
move he will thrive and develop fully into the player he was destined to
become. He is excited about his future and looking forward to the
process of selecting his next destination.”
The 30-year-old has recorded 81 sacks in eight
years with Carolina. But while he was voted a member of the NFL’s
all-decade team, he’s also been criticized for inconsistency.
It’s under that scenario that Peppers becomes
one of the biggest defensive free agents to hit the open market in
years.