With Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor deciding to Dance with the Stars rather than attend the Dolphins training camp, it’s clear that the Pro Bowl defensive end wants out in Miami. The question is, should Carolina go after Jason Taylor? The move could potentially be fantastic, but could also strike a devastating blow to the team’s salary cap if Taylor asks for a large contract, which he most certainly will. Because of Taylor’s age, 34 in September, the number one thing you have to look at with this deal is “Do I want to win now?” or “Do I want to win later?”. Personally I have always been a win now guy and that there is no time like the present to try and get all of your pieces together in order to win a Superbowl, but still, this kind of move could do some damage to the salary cap three years down the road.

Looking at all of the reasons why Carolina should trade for Taylor, there are a lot. For starters, the Panthers would have one of the most dominant defensive lines in football with Taylor and Peppers starting together. Taylor’s presence would take a lot of pressure off Peppers, who has had to deal with countless double teams over the last two years with Mike Rucker getting injured and aging. With Peppers on the left and Taylor on the right, Carolina could forget about their shaky defensive tackles, because if Taylor and Peppers are their usual selves they most likely should have 20 sacks between them at least. I know I ripped Peppers yesterday about not performing last year, but if Peppers bounces back, Carolina would have quite a scary pass rush. You can’t totally eliminate his playmaking ability, and after watching Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora eat up the Patriot’s offensive line in the Superbowl, we all know what a good pass rush can do.

While the upside to the trade looks very promising and would seem to make Carolina a definite playoff contender, the repercussions could be equally as bad. Let’s just say that Carolina decides to trade their third and fifth round picks in next years draft. That would mean that Carolina will have only four picks in the 2009 draft (they traded their no.1 in 2009 for Jeff Otah), Down the road, Carolina may have some issues due to the low number of draft picks. Also I mentioned Taylor’s age, because the reality is that Taylor really is past his prime and will most likely retire in the next three years. But because Head Coach John Fox and General Manager Marty Hurney will most likely be fired if Carolina doesn’t reach the post season this year, what do they have to lose?

Besides the losing draft picks immediately, the Panthers would also be struggling to get under the salary cap for the next few seasons if Taylor wants a large contract (but again, if Fox and Hurney aren’t going to be here, what’s it to them?). I think that John Fox’s conservative nature was already pushed when the Panthers traded up to get Otah, and if the Panthers win (which they should) Fox and Hurney wouldn’t want to dig themselves into too deep a hole just to secure their jobs for seasons to come only to have little room to operate come future seasons, so don’t count on the Panthers aggressively going after Taylor.

Whether or not Carolina will start trade talks with the Dolphins remains to be seen, but at least it will fill some news space this upcoming June and July. Under the right terms I think the Panthers should try and make a move for Taylor, but if the price is too high, they already have the nucleus they think they need to contend, and Taylor would just be icing on the cake.

Tags: carolina panthers, Jason Taylor, peppers