Bears Land Peppers
The Chicago Bears signed Julius Peppers, regarded as the biggest name available in free agency this year, to a six-year deal Friday. There is no word on the overall dollar amount of the deal, but it is believed that he will earn $40 million in the first three years of the deal.
Peppers is an immense talent and is one of the league’s best defensive players when he wants to be. One wonders whether he is worth the type of money he is reportedly getting from Chicago given some of the questions about his motivation level at times. Peppers simply is not a self motivator and constantly needs prodding from coaches and teammates to keep him going throughout the year. Former teammates have even gone as far as to say that they do not think his heart is truly invested in playing football.
For now it is a good move for the Bears. The Bears needed to improve a pass rush that had fallen off in the past couple of years. What will be interesting about this is to see how he reacts the first time the fans and media of Chicago start to call him out for not giving it his all in a game. Chicago fans and sports writers are not nearly as passive as the ones in Charlotte are.
It is also interesting to note that Peppers is neither going to a team considered to be a real threat to contend for the Super Bowl next season nor are they a team who runs a 3-4 defensive scheme.
At the very least the Bears pass rush will be better, but, for how long and how much better it gets remains to be seen.
