Kaspers Korner

On WFNZ last week Carolina Panthers linebacker John Beason stated he was going to talk to defensive end Julius Peppers about his performance.

The reality is that is what great leaders do no matter in public or not, and Beason shouldn’t have appologized for it.

Beason got a lot of negative attention following the comments, which prompted to appologize on WFNZ this week.

In the Buffalo News today Jerry Sullivan wrote that former Buffalo Bills wide receiver Andre Reed this past Sunday told him that him and other veterans on the Bills during their Superbowl years would hold closed door meetings following a loss, which were players only, telling the other players what was expected.

In the end the fact of the matter is that what Beason did is what good leaders do and if that hurt Peppers feeling then though luck and go suck it up like a real man.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme has gotten off to a rough start to the 2009 season.

It is not suprising though that Delhomme isn’t the starter.

Delhomme earlier this decade led the Panthers to an appeaeance to the Superbowl.

The fact of the matter is that the Panthers have another threat in the passing game to complement wide receiver Steve Smith.

That means Delhomme is right now trying to make plays out of things that are not there.

You cannot fault Delhomme for that as if he had another legitament wide receiver the Panthers passing game wouldn’t be as bad.

In the end if dissapointing wide receiver doesn’t get it soon it will be a long year for the Panthers offensively.

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith intentionally changed his route, which led ro a sealing interception by Dallas Cowboys cornerback Terrence Newman.

All Smith had to do was tell quarterback Jake Delhomme what he was doing.

Communication is huge part of being a human.

No matter if it is in marriage or work wheb teo people fail to communicate something ti problems always follow.

In the end Smith had a good idea with the intentions of helping his team, but failure to say something is inexecuseable.

The Carolina Panthers made the NFC Conference Campionship last year led by the running back tandem of DeAngelo Williams and Johnathan Stewart.

With the Panthers running game struggling many are wondering if the running game can return to last years form.

The Panthes last year averaged 152 yards rushing, but this year is so far the Panthers are averaging 115 yards a game.

What is most likely happening is that teams are putting eight men near the line of scrimmage to take away the running game, thus forcing quarterback Jake Delhomme to beat them.

Delhomme had a better game, but if the Panthers are going to win it will be due to the running game.

In the end if the Panthers are going to win then the coaches better find a way to open it, or it will be a long season.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme has been mediocre since having solid seasons in 2004 and 2005.

That leaves many fans wondering which Delhomme will show up this year.

Delhomme was seemingly on his way to another solid season in 2007 when in the third game of the year he tore the elbow ligament of his throwing arm.

In his first year back after Tommy Johns elbow ligament reconstructive surgery had an okay year throwing for 3,288 yards with 15 toucdowns with  12 interceptions for a 84.7 quarterback rating.

This year will be the real test as it usually takes two full years for a player to recover from ligament surgery.

One thing going for Delhomme is that pitchers in Major League Baseball who have had the surgery reportedly have more velocity when they thow.

That means for Delhomme the surgery probably has extended his career by a few years.

In the end Delhomme’s performance is dependent on the development of third year wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett who if he was to finally develop would help open up the passing game and even possibly take some double coverage away from wide receiver Steve Smith.

Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers’ trade request created a problem that many people though couldn’t be solved.

The Panthers do have the ability to keep Peppers, but they are going to have to break the bank to do it.

According to the Charlotte Observer Peppers stated that after he spoke with Panthers owner Jerry Richardson earlier this summer he expected to sign a long term deal before the July 15th deadline for franchised tag players.

That never happened, but the news is good for Panther fans as Peppers is now willing to stay with the team.

The thing is Peppers will not come cheap as 2010 is an uncapped season, which means team are going to be willing to break the bank for Peppers.

Peppers figure for this year is $16.683 million, which means that any team that is going to sign Peppers is going to be paying him about $20 million a year.

Fortunately, the Panthers may have a replacement for Peppers in defensive end Everette Brown in the second round of this past April’s National Football League Draft.

If Brown was to record around 10 sacks this year then Peppers would be expendable.

That means the Panthers would most likely tag Peppers and then trade him.

In the end the saga surrounding Peppers will not be completed until after the season and a lot of things can happen between now and then.

The Carolina Panthers this year have two big problems they have to address this season.  As can they get back to the Superbowl again and can they sign defensive end Julius Peppers to a long term contract.

As good as the Panthers were last year they couldn’t get past the Arizona Cardinals and their great passing attack as the Cardinals went on to the Superbowl.

The Panthers were not able to do much in free agency to improve the team as the contracts for offensive tackle Jordan Gorss and defensive end Julius Peppers ate that all up.

While the Panthers and Cardinals were relegated to resigning their own the New York Giants were actice in free agency as the bolstered their defensive line depth.

Then there is the saga of Peppes as he requested a trade so that he could fully utilize his talents as a outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense.

With his contract up the Panthers had to apply the franchise tag on him to keep him.

For Peppers that means that his only options are sign a one year deal or multi year deal.

With Peppers signing his one year tender if they cannot get a long term deal done the Panthers will have a tough decision to make next year on what to do with him.
In the end the Panthers will be lucky to get either done.

The Carolina Panthers took a huge risk in trading up for defensive end Everett Brown in this past April’s National Football League Draft.  Already, the trade is starting to look like it was well worth it.

The big knock on Brown coming out of college was that he did not have many pass rushing moves.

According to the Charlotte Observer, Brown is already on the record stating he is in the midst of learning new moves.

The reason for this development is that he is a quick learner as he is going up against right offensive tackle Jeff Otah.

Brown came to the right situation as he came to a team that has one of the best offensive lines in the NFL.

When you have that with Borwn learning quickly what is working and what is not working you have a player that is going to be a force in the league.

If the Panthers figure out a way to somehow convince defensive end Julius Peppers to stay with the team they will have a deadly one two punch.

The Carolina Panthers are currently working on a contract extension for quarterback Jake Delhomme, which will most likely be his last with the team.  The Panthers need to invest in the future now.

Delhomme turned 34 this past Januaryl, which means his career is coming to a close.  The question is now how much more does he have in the tank.

Delhomme last year returned from Tommy Johns surgery after tearing up his throwing elbow in the 2007 season.  His future, like many other quarterbacks at his age, will depend on how healthy he can be.

No matter if Delhomme is healthy or not the Panthers need to invest in a quarterback of the future.

The fortunate thing for the Panthers is that they can bring along the draft pick slowly allowing him to back up for Delhomme for a couple of season, which was the case in Green Bay as current starter Aaron Rodges was Brett Farve’s backup for three seasons.

With that being the case the Panthers do not have to even invest in a high draft pick for Delhomme’s successor.  Most likely though the Panthers will use a pick within the first three rounds to make sure that there is a good shot at success.

For now all Panther fans can do is sit back and just watch the games with a watchful eye to see if Delhomme still has it or not.

James Anderson LB restricted

Donte’ Curry LB unrestricted

Gary Gibson DT restricted

Jordan Gross OT unrestricted resigned with team six years $60 million
Geoff Hangartner C unrestricted signed with Bills four year deal $9.6 million
Mark Jones WR unrestricted signed with Titans
Jeff King TE restricted

Jason Kyle LB unrestricted

Frank Omiyale OT unrestricted signed with Chicago Bears four year $14 million five guaranteed.
Julius Peppers DE unrestricted franchised by team
Nate Salley S restricted

Adam Seward LB unrestricted signed with Colts
Darwin Walker DT unrestricted