It appears the Carolina Panthers and defensive end Julius Peppers will not agree to a long-term deal before today’s 4p.m. deadline, meaning the sides could be headed for another offseason standoff.

Teams that used their franchise tag this year have until today’s deadline to sign those players. If a deal isn’t reached by the deadline, teams can’t negotiate with those players until after the 2009 season.

Kansas City beat the deadline by completing a deal with quarterback Matt Cassell, who was New England’s franchise player and was traded to the Chiefs after signing his one-year tender.

There are strong indications that Peppers and the Panthers won’t agree to a new contract by the deadline. Hopes for a new deal were raised last month when Peppers, who signed the one-year contract tender of $16.683 million, said through his agent that he was open to considering an extension.

A key factor that prevented the Panthers from signing Peppers to an extended contract might have been the increased price tag of making him the highest-paid defensive player in the league.

Peppers turned down an offer from Carolina last year that would have paid him more than any other defensive player, topping the approximate $12-million-a-year averages of the contracts for defensive ends Jared Allen of Kansas City and Dwight Freeney of Indianapolis.

This year, the bar was raised substantially by new contracts signed by Oakland cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and Washington defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. Asomugha’s three-year contract with the Raiders became the new standard for defensive players, averaging slightly more than $15million per season.

The increase of roughly $3million a season in what it would cost to make Peppers the highest paid defensive player might have been a sticking point for Carolina. However, Peppers has said he’ll report to training camp on time Aug.2 and that he’s looking forward to the ‘09 season.

Barring a last-minute change before today’s deadline, the Panthers will have three primary options next offseason: Try again to sign Peppers to a long-term contract, put their franchise tag on him again at a one-year price of more than $20million (there’s a mandatory 20percent increase over his 2009 tender amount), or let him become an unrestricted free agent without receiving any compensation.

Peppers said in January that he preferred to play for another team because he thought that was the best way to reach his potential. His ability to go elsewhere was restricted by the franchise tag, though he was still available via trade.

No team he was interested in joining was able to put together the offer necessary to meet his contractual needs and the Panthers’ desire for ample compensation via draft picks and/or veteran players.

Article via Charlotte Observer, written by Charles Chandler – http://www.charlotteobserver.com/panthers/story/833768.html

At age 34, Delhomme’s clock is ticking to an end and some wonder whether or not he still has it in him to keep the Carolina Panthers atop of the NFC. He ended his season with a terrible showing against the Arizona Cardinals in the post-season throwing an outstanding six interceptions as the Panthers went down. The Panthers didn’t seem too phased by it as just last month they opted to extend Delhomme’s contract and didn’t feel the need to select a quarterback at all in the 2009 NFL Draft. But how much does Delhomme have left in the tank and can the Panthers get the job done and get back to the playoffs if he’s not playing up to par? No matter how good of a receiving corp the Panthers have, if the quarterback cannot be reliable to get the ball down field, those receivers will not have a chance to be productive at all.

One thing the Panthers do have going for them is the fact that their 1-2 punch in the running game is probably the best in the league and because of Steve Smith’s explosiveness, opponents have to double-team him leaving one less guy in the box, which makes it easier for DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart to bust off those long running plays in the ground game. If the passing game can be efficient and consistent, there aren’t many teams who can stop the Panthers from having their way on the offensive end.