Tampering? Peppers could cost Bears more than just a pile of cash
The Bears like Julius Peppers and he likes them back. It’s the equivalent of an awkward junior high boy passing a note to the popular girl that he likes and her passing one back saying “I like you too.” OK, put your first stiffy away.
I’ve heard and read a lot about the Bears having an interest in Peppers. So far, I’ve taken it all with a grain of salt, thinking that the Bears were just getting their name out there in the mix to appease fans by being ‘active’ in the free agent market.
Yesterday I read that the Bears supposedly met with Peppers’ people during the scouting combine and thought two things:
1. Wow, maybe the Bears are serious about this Peppers thing.
2. Isn’t it considered tampering to talk to agents before free agency officially begins?
I guess I am not the only one to think that. You might recall the Bears accused the 49ers of tampering with Lance Briggs a couple of years back and actually got some draft compensation.
Great, so with an already weakened draft without the a first or second round pick in a tremendously deep draft, the Bears might be at risk for giving up one of their precious few selections over a chat with Peppers’ agent.
As I understand, normally a lot of this tampering goes on at the NFL Combine, but because agents who are there have multiple clients. Here’s the problem – Carl Carey has but one client – Julius Peppers.
And that client will become a very rich client if reports are correct. Rich like $40 million up front plus another $15+ every year. That’s more than a million bucks per sack if he can keep up his 10+ annually. Is the Bears defense better with Peppers? Hell yes! Is Peppers better than Adewale Ogunleye and Gaines Adams (rest in peace) put together? Yup. Is he worth that kind of coin?