Panther Players' Twitters: Best of

I'm sure everyone has heard of Twitter, and even though I still don't really know what it is or how to use it (and don't care to) here's a best of collection of "tweets" from Carolina Panther players:

• rhysjlloyd Just watching teen cribs. Fecking kids are spoiled. Unreal houses. I want more money. Hahaha
• Jonathanstewar1 im watchin forgetting sarah marshall with people
• jonbeason Everyone has good days and bad days but, when u "beast" a workout like I did today u know your ready. Conditioned for another big season!
• EveretteBrown There is no better day than Sunday!! One week out of camp.
• jonbeason Who would've thought Jon Beason would be acting! Alittle improv.... Lost of fun! They say I'm a natural.

Peppers pay could exceed $19 million

Before we put the Julius Peppers contract issue to bed (again), there are still a few things that have gone unaccounted for in regards to the amount of money he could actually earn in this season alone. The Panthers are paying a base salary of $16.683million (thats $1,042,687.50 per game), and that is the minimum amount of money that he could possibly earn. "Likely to be earned" incentives, which are part of virtually every players contract, include a $1.5million bonus should Peppers be selected to the Pro Bowl, and also an additional $250,000 per playoff victory, not to mention an even greater amount should the Panthers reach and win the Super Bowl.

Let's do some math real quick.

Assume the following:

• Peppers plays all 16 games at his salary of $16.683million


• Peppers reaches the Pro Bowl


• Panthers reach the playoffs and Super Bowl, and win it all.

$16,683,000 (base) + $1,500,000 (pro bowl) + $1,000,000 (assume 4 playoff wins) + $1,500,000 (super bowl estimate) = $20.683 million

Now this is just a shot in the dark and of course no one knows how many playoff wins we'll have ( so we assume all), but it gives a better sense of just how much money Peppers could stand to make.

Incentives are interesting. Incentives are categorized as either "Likely to be Earned" (LTBE) or "Not Likely to be Earned" (NLTBE). Their names are pretty self explanatory. LTBE incentives count towards the cap while NLTBE incentives do not. But the way it goes is that if the player achieves those NLTBE incentives then they count toward the following year's cap.

All in all, the amount of money a player can in a year make gets rather complicated, especially when you factor in bonuses and incentives. But the one thing you can count on is that Peppers will count towards nearly 20% of the Panthers salary cap come next offseason, and that's when something will have to break.

High Gear

With only 6 days left until the start of training camp, Panther players and coaches alike are gearing up for the month long scorching Spartanburg southern heat.

• 2nd rd pick Everette Brown has just inked his deal with the Carolina Panthers, a four-year deal worth $4.3million with $2.6875million in guarantees. Get'cho popcorn ready!
• Duke Robinson, our 5th RD draft choice as OG from Oklahoma has also signed, and will give the Panthers good depth on the line.
• REMINDER: SINGLE GAME TICKETS GO ON SALE THIS SATURDAY TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
• Corey Irvin, 3rd RD pick from Georgia, has just signed a 4 year deal. Details not known.

No New Deal Likely with Peppers

Today at 4pm marks the end of the negotiation period for players that have been tagged "franchise players" to sign long term contracts. If no deal is done before 4pm today, negotiations will have to resume after the 2009 season, which of course means another "standoff" with Julius Peppers next year seems almost a certainty.

There are pretty much two options following the 2009 season when it comes to dealing with Peppers and $.

1) Try again to sign Peppers to a long-term contract

2) Put their franchise tag on him again at a one-year price of more than $20 million (there's a mandatory 20 percent increase over his '09 tender amount)

The other option is to let him walk unrestricted, but that's not really an option.

It really is a catch22 situation now. Of course we want our DE to be a beast on the field, but it is going to cost the Panthers an incredible amount of money if Peppers duplicate last season's contract year performance. The best possible thing the Panthers could do is to sign him to a long term, high incentive based contract after the 2009 season so that we can avoid the cost of franchising him every year.

I am going to assume that we can put this topic to bed until next February after we hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

Give me back my Caprice!!!

The picture of the 1975 Chevrolet Caprice Classic was submitted to police by none other than Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis, who reported it stolen on Saturday. The vehicle is worth an estimated $136,000 with all of its "tricked out" accessories.

Good news though, the Barney-mobile on wheels should be easy to spot and could be easily located at any KFC or Bojangles in the south-Charlotte area.

Hello July

It has been a few weeks since the last blog update, and I have to admit there has not been much of anything going on outside of the world of celebrity deaths. The Carolina Panthers wrapped up their OTA's in June and the players are now resting up and working out on their own before the team packs its things and moves down to Spartanburg, SC for the start of the 15th annual training camp, held at Wofford for the 14th consecutive year (the first year was hosted by Winthrop University).



Jon Beason says that he is as excited as he could possibly be for the start of the season, and especially to get back to form defensively with Julius Peppers. Jon Beason's blog has provided the KMAC Panther Weekly with lots of insights and entertainment, and it sounds as if he is working harder than ever to become the single best linebacker in the NFL. If he's not in that discussion already, I think he will be come the end of the 2009 season. He is phenomenal, and he is the best linebacker that I've ever seen line up in a Carolina Panthers uniform.

It's hard to say what the best draft pick the Panthers ever had was, but if I had to come up with a short list I would put Jon Beason in there along with Steve Smith and likely DeAngelo Williams. Sorry Randi Fasani and Eric Shelton, you don't make the cut.

Here's an excerpt from "The Beast", Jon Beason:

Workouts are going great. I’m out there grinding twice a day, getting ready for training camp. It’s hot here in Fort Lauderdale, which is good because it simulates the weather in Spartanburg.

I feel like my old self again after the surgery. I feel motivated and hungry, like I’m about to enter the NFL again as a rookie. Here I am a veteran and I feel like I’m starting all over again with new coaches, new schemes and new terminology.

I’ve come to the realization that everybody likes to talk about what you did or how great you are, the season you had and the Pro Bowl, but to me the NFL is a “what have you done for me lately” league because none of that stuff matters if you don’t make the next play.

This year I want to have a short memory. Do what is expected of me and then move on to the next play. Try to make a great play, then move on to the next play.

If I do that, individually I’ll get what I want but also the team will respect it and respond. The guys can almost taste that and it becomes part of their makeup. If we can do that every play, we can win this whole thing.

Our tight end Dante Rosario is down here working out with me. After coming down here and training, I think you can expect big things from him this year. I hope we use him more on offense because I think he’s a special talent.

July is my time. I stay at a hotel, everything is right here for me, I don’t have a kitchen or anything. I wake up, work out, come back to the hotel, have my food prepared for me, lay down for a rest, come back and work out again in the afternoon. During my time I don’t want anybody to bother me, I want to feel tired and feel like I made a deposit today.

That’s my new thing. You have to make a deposit every day. You make deposits, watch your deposits grow and hopefully in February I can make one big withdrawal.

www.jonbeason.com