Jason Taylor should have been a Carolina Panther

Could the Panthers have used Jason Taylor?  You better believe it, but some things are not meant to be. Washington's move helped better establish them as a playoff contender and Carolina?  Well, the Panthers are pinning their hopes, for now at least, on Tyler Brayton. The Carolina Panthers have made various moves this offeason to get back in a winning grove in Charlotte.  They have made, arguably, the most dramatic changes in the franchise's history.

Most of the "meat" of these changes were made on the offensive side of the ball. A few bigger named players were brought in and they seem to look great so far, but the big move was trading away next season's 1st round draft pick for the chance to select 2, much needed, players in the 1st rounds of the 2008 draft.

Amazingly the Panthers did not sign a proven defensive end this offseason. They did take Rookie, Hilee Taylor from UNC. Taylor is probably better suited to play outside linebacker given his overall size, speed and style of play. But coach Fox likes Taylor's speed and feels that is what his team needs. The Panthers also signed undrafted rookie defensive end, Casper Brinkley, from USC. Brinkley is at best a work in progress and like Hilee Taylor, he could be in a bit over his head if he was plugged into the defense too quickly

The other defensive end signed is former Raider, Tyler Brayton.  The former Raider had no sacks last year and I believe that is the problem the Panthers are now trying to correct this offseason (to get more pressure on opposing quarterbacks).  Brayton may be a decent backup, but his numbers do not seem to support a starting position.  He may wind up having a great season but all we have to go from is his past history and he does not look like the quarterback chasing "bookend" to play opposite Julius Peppers.

It almost looks as if coach John Fox knows that one of his new defensive ends,  may just wind up going on to be a 15 sack pro-bowler. He may also feel that Julius Peppers will return to get his annual 10-12 sacks this season. If those scenarios played out then Carolina will once again be able to pressure opposing quarterbacks.  However, if any part of this equation (a 12 sack year for Peppers and a pro-bowl type of year for one of the newly drafted or newly signed defensive ends) happens to break down then it could spell trouble. 

I just find it hard to believe that Brayton, Brinkley and Taylor are going to be super productive defensive ends this season.  I think there is a good chance Julius Peppers may return and be somewhat of the player he was before last season. It would cost him too much to have a lackluster season (unless he know longer cares about landing a $70,000,000 contract). 

I like Julius Peppers as he has always been more than accommodating to us.  He has not spoken to the press this offseason and when he does or if he does, he will  not answer any contract questions.  But "Pep" is the kind of guy who I actually believe the phrase "money is not everything," totally applies to.  He could even tell the team to "keep their money and long term contract and use it on someone else", if he had another down season in '08.  I am not saying he will play for the love of the game and be happy with the league minimum. But Peppers has more than enough financial resources to make money, not a concern.  There is a very large salary "cap" hit this season for the Panthers if Pepper's contract is not restructured.  Given the issues and questions that stemmed from Pepper's performance last season I could easily see this staff allowing the team to go ahead and take the salary cap "hit" this year and just wait and see if Pepper's "game" was back up to the level they expect before making a new deal with him.

I really hope Julius Peppers returns with a vengeance. However, I am not sure having a 10 sack per year Peppers on one side and having just an average defensive end opposite him is what this team needs to get to where they want to go.

So, what are the Panther's options?  The "bigtime" free agent defensive ends are all spoken for. However, there will more than likely be a few bigger named defensive ends released as the season draws closer. The Panthers could wait and try to find another end that way, but that is a risky proposition. I would find it a bit of a gamble for the team to try and better themselves by relying on some other team's "cut" player to provide them a possible number 2 defensive end.

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