Do the Carolina Panthers Have the 2009 NFL Draft Held Hostage?

(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Even though teams prepare for the draft with scientific precision, there may just to be a 6'8" elephant, wearing a No. 90 jersey standing in middle of the room at your draft party just waiting to stir things up.

At this point in the draft process every NFL team has their draft boards completed and they have backup plans for the "just in case" scenarios.  Teams even have redundant plans just in case the backup plans go awry.

The combine, pro days and special workout visits are all over. The medical reports are in, the player background checks are done, the most recent "40" times have been reviewed and all the game film you could ever imagine someone reviewing, has been watched.

However, the 2009 draft is still up in the air for teams picking after the Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Carolina Panthers and any other team that would like to have the services of a pro-bowl defensive end.

Why are those team's draft boards in possible disarray? Well, it comes down to two words, Julius Peppers.  

So, can an uncertain team with an unknown combination of potential draft picks really hold part of the NFL draft hostage?  Well, the Carolina Panthers may not hold the entire in their draft in limbo but one had better believe that teams drafting near any potential Carolina trading partners are getting a bit antsy at this point.

Things even get more hairy if any of the teams who follow the potential Julius Peppers suitors are in the draft market waiting on a top-tier defensive end or a defensive tackle and are hoping one will be left when their turn to make a draft pick comes.  A Peppers' trade could cause stomach ulcers for a few coaches and GM's who think they have their defensive tackle or defensive end picks already penciled in.

There are only a few teams who are even capable of getting close the services of Julius Peppers. Why are there not more teams in the fray, trying to make a deal with Carolina?

It would have to be because they simply cannot afford the salary cap hit, they do not have the draft picks needed to trade to Carolina or they are not a team Peppers has expressed an interest in. The two teams that do have a real shot at trading for Julius Peppers are the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles.

According to Jared Allen's agent, Ken Harris, the Eagles were deep in the process of trying to sign Jared Allen last season, and the Eagles were there, right in the thick of things, trying to get a deal done and acquire Allen, all the way up until the Vikings decided to fill up a Brinks truck and back it up into Allen's driveway.

The Eagles were also very interested in acquiring Panther pro-bowl tackle Jordan Gross, earlier this season. Gross said he loved the Charlotte area and was happy raising his family there.  Though the deal went down to the wire, Gross did not hold the Panthers hostage trying to see if there was another dollar or two out there with his name on it.  As far as Gross goes, or anyone for that matter goes,  I am all for getting paid for what one's services are worth, but taking a stab at destroying the franchise in the procress is not a good idea.   What does that mean and why did Jordan Gross go ahead and make a deal, just in time for Carolina to place the franchise tag on Julius Peppers? 

Gross is a smart guy and he knows there is a point where he could probably have gotten more money out of the Panthers but I have to believe he understood the overall cost in the big picture.  Had Gross not agreed to a new contract before the free agent flood gate opened up I believe Gross knew the Panthers would have bent over backwards in order to keep him. The Panthers would possibly have bent so far over, trying to keep Gross, that it would have been detremental to the entire team. Now, I am not saying the "hometown discount" was in play with the Gross deal, but Gross knew if the compensation numbers for the first year of his new contract had  gotten any larger, then his team could possibly find themselves in a scenario where they were unable to even sign the few draft picks they will select next Saturday.

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