Julius Peppers will be a free agent this Friday and the Eagles is one of his favorite teams.

Carolina has not signed Peppers yet for the next season and all the other teams have their eye on Peppers when he becomes a free agent in five days.

According to Mike Holmgren, Peppers will improve the Eagles’ defense and as Eagles will have the perfect combination of Trent Cole and Julius Peppers. Peppers will also add to the star value of Eagles.

Peppers have impressing career stats. Peppers recorded 101/2 sacks last season. Peppers made $18.5 million in the last season. Holmgren believes that Peppers will be getting somewhere around $13-14 million per year.

Eagles have tons of options in front of them. Tennessee’s Kyle Vanden Bosch and Green Bay’s Aaron Kampman are ready to play for the Eagles.

The Eagles are looking to draft a defensive end with their hot favorite. By the time, Eagles pick, Coatesville’s Derrick Morgan of Georgia Tech and Carlos Dunlap of Florida will already be picked. Eagles will be picking 6 times in the first four rounds.

Eagles scores high in the Peppers’ favorites’ list. Eagles are looking to play for the championship.

Some of the teams who have their eyes set on Peppers include Chicago, New England and the Browns.

He said, “If I could play for any team in the league, it would probably be two teams, but if I had to pick one, it would probably be the Carolina Panthers.”

But before everyone gets excited about this, there is a small possibility that the Panthers would take Vick as their quarterback. Even if there are rumors that the Eagles might release him, his playing style does not fit the style of the panthers. Though the Panthers need another quarterback right now they are looking at younger players to fill the position. Vick has been use as a rusher when he signed up with the Eagles to become a back-up quarterback for Donovan McNabb after serving a two-year jail sentence.

One year nonguaranteed salary figure can be offered to each player. If not, then a tender to them that gives the club the right to match any deal which the player finds on the open market and then to retain them. The tender level also sets compensation.

These compensation will be actually based on duration of the players being drafted and also how much are they offered.

Here is the player-by-player look:

FIVE-YEAR PLAYERS
Linebacker Thomas Davis (Picked in first round)
Tackle Rob Petitti (sixth round)

FOUR-YEAR PLAYERS
Cornerback Richard Marshall (second)
Tight end Jeff King (fifth)
Linebacker James Anderson (third)

THREE-YEAR PLAYERS
Quarterback Matt Moore (undrafted)
Defensive tackle Louis Leonard (undrafted)
Defensive tackle Tank Tyler (third)
Kicker Rhys Lloyd (undrafted)
Safety Quinton Teal (undrafted)
Cornerback C.J. Wilson (seventh round)

Hurney also said that they have drafted quite well in the past few years and they are very thoughtful about the future of the talented new players.

Thomas Davis, Richard Marshall, Matt Moore and Jeff King are few of the key players signed by the Panthers this year. They will be given short term contracts and later on they will be given extensions. The Panthers are keen to keep Tyler Brayton, Keydrick Vincent and Dante Wesley.

More big decisions are still to be made in the coming years.

DeAngelo Williams, Ryan Kalil, Charles Johnson are some of the key players for the team. Their contacts are up.

The Panthers has been restricting to give any long term contracts since last spring due to possible lockout in 2011.

Johnson was arrested in 2008 for possessing marijuana. He was also suspended of school and after that also from a bowl game.

Marty Hurney, general manager of Carolina Panthers, gave a statement that they have done a deep research before signing Ed Johnson.

Johnson will be covering the place for Maake Kemoeatu who is suffering a ruptured Achillis’ tendon. Last season, Kemoeatu was replaced by Hollis Thomas for the rest of the season.

There are speculations that Hollis Thomas may not be re-signed for the 2010 season. There is also uncertainty over the rest of the squad for the 2010 season.

The Panthers have still not made a decision whether they will be signing Julius Peppers for $20.1 million before February 25th.

Tyler Brayton, the defender will also be released from the contract this season.

He said “we need a player who has consistency. Many players feel that Moore should be given a chance. We want to win football and will choose the more competitive player”.

Moore is expected to be contacted before March 4th deadline.

Panthers will definitely change a quarterback soon. “We are flexible in our choice and we will choose only the best player available. We will know in a few months.”

Talking to fox Hurney, he said that Panthers will allow coach John Fox for 2010 season as a duck coach. “But Fox will not have much of a say” he said. He said John departure will not affect the team’s performance. Fox is not happy with the decision- the sources said.

Jon Beason in his text message said “you cannot fill the gap of Julius Peppers. But we can find someone who can really contribute towards the team. We have Everette Brown and Charles Johnson, and both have lasting potential. I’m for my team and trust every decision Carolina Panthers take in favour of the team. For it’s the team that comes first.”

Hurney said that they cannot find a suitable match for Julius Peppers, as there is no one in the current line up who comes up-to Pepper’s level. It is no easy job to replace the player of the decade with some matching his potential. This was in response to the announcement made by Carolina Panthers that they cannot afford another $20 million franchisee tag on Peppers. They have to revise contracts of some younger player soon.

Hurney was also heard saying “it isin’t finding a replacement to Peppers. But you can try to make your defensive position as strong as possible. A strong defensive wave is what it takes to meet the ends.”

“We feel strongly for Everette Brown and Charles Johnson.”

Beason said that they are looking for young talent with potential.

Thomas David, the linebacker said “I’ve got a lot confidence the these two guys but however I cannot deny the huge blow we had by Peppers departure. Julius was the best passer we had.”

“There are many passers on the market but none as good as Aaron Kampman of green bay. Someone of his calibre will be required to replace the best. And it is in best interests of Carolina Panthers.”

Ed Johnson is 6-foot-2 and 296-pound. He is reuniting with the Panthers defensive coordinator Ron Meeks. In 2007 Meeks had same job in Indianapolis when Ed Johnson started all 16 games and he also recorded 63 tackles as an undrafted rookie.

After that the career of Ed Johnson declined. In 2008 he was waved out by the Colts when he was arrested on a marijuana possession charge. After that he was re-signed, but then cut again early last season. Then the coach Jim Caldwell said that his play had slipped.

Ed Johnson even ran into trouble at the Penn State. There, temporarily he was kicked out of the school and after that he was also suspended from a bowl game.

This time the Panthers decided to take a chance on Johnson. Manager Marty Hurney said in a statement, “We have done a lot of research on Ed. When we took into account what people around him said and the impression we got when meeting with him in person, we felt comfortable giving him this opportunity.”

In other Panthers news, Jeff Rodgers is facing an uphill battle and has been promoted. He will now be the special team’s coordinator and has a lot of work ahead of him.

The Carolina Panthers are ranked close to the bottom in many statistical categories, he is going to have to take the team and reshape these guys from the inside out to come up with some wins in the new season. It sounds like an impossible job but if anyone can handle it we will be looking at Rodgers to get the team in shape.

For 2010 he is seeking an unprecedented $20.1 million salary and also possibly a deal for long-term. On the other part, he claims of not wanting to be locked into a multi-year deal with that team which drafted him. Peppers also may be looking forward in this year a new place to call home.

He has almost spent a decade in the Carolina Panthers club.

He has also dropped signal-callers about 81 times when he has been in the Panthers, and now he seeks to be rewarded with one heck of a contract.

There has been rumors he is interested in the grizzled veteran, but in fact he wants to stay in the Panthers and it is presumed that he will be finishing his career where it started.

Peppers has not expressed any interest in leaving the Panthers, but he retracts what he has said in other interviews/articles. Whatever it is, it’s like a back-and-forth ongoing battle between Peppers and his employer.