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Now that Julius Peppers’ signing is official, some of the deal’s financial details have begun to emerge, and… Well, it’s not a recession for everyone. Courtesy of ESPN’s Adam Schefter, here are the contract details:
$20 million in 2010
$11.5 million in 2011
$9 million in 2012
$13 million in 2013
$14 million in 2014
$16 million in 2015
For those berfeft of addition skills, that comes to a jaw-dropping $83.5 million dollars, $40 million of which is guaranteed over the first three years of the contract. But that’s not even the most shocking part. If you were reading quickly, you may have glossed over the numbers and missed it: in 2010, Julius Peppers will make TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS.
If he matches his career high in sacks—a pretty big if, all things considered—that will average out to a neat $1.4 million per sack. But numbers make everything more confusing, don’t they? The Bears are visual learners:
Look at how cool and terrifying he looks coming through that smoke. Totally worth $20 million.
And If the Chicago Bears can afford to pay $20 million to Peppers in 2010, surely they can arrange for him to be surrounded by smoke at all times, transforming him into some fearsome, mystical beast that prompts the opposition to cower as soon as he takes the field. Or, in other words, the type of imaginary defensive end that's actually worth paying $20 million in one year.
In less than 24 hours it appears the biggest crown jewel of the 2010 NFL free agency class will have a home. Various outlets are now reporting that Julius Peppers will indeed sign with the Chicago Bears pending a physical.
The final contract should be consummated by as early as Friday afternoon.
In the days leading up to the Peppers sweepstakes, the thought process was that the Washington Redskins would make a strong push for him and present a financial package that would blow everyone else out of the water.
As it turns out, the Redskins never contacted Peppers.
But you can't blame a lot of folks for assuming Washington would be Peppers' landing spot. Over the last decade, it seems every big name free agent has been linked to the 'Skins and in many cases, ends up signing with them (See: Haynesworth, Albert).
Shortly after midnight, reports began to surface that the Bears were the front runner to land his services. Confirming these reports was Peppers' agent, Carl Carey, who said the Bears would have the first shot at signing his client after presenting an acceptable offer.
By the wee hours of the morning, the Bears had set up a visit with Peppers.
Even though he had arrived in Chicago Friday morning intent on signing with the Bears, more reports began to surface linking two more teams to the Peppers sweepstakes -- the Patriots and Eagles.
At this point, Carey began leaking to the media that both the Eagles and Patriots had offers on the table. In other words, he was creating leverage in the case that the Bears tried lowball his client.
However, it never came to that point.
As of early Friday afternoon, Peppers is in Chicago taking a physical and barring a major breakdown, should sign a six year contract sometime Friday evening. Reports are indicating that Peppers will receive $40 million in the first three years of the deal.
Peppers joins running back Chester Taylor and tight end Brandon Manumaleuna as the newest Bears.
For more on these signings, check out SB Nation's Windy City Gridiron.
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Odds Shark 
Julius Peppers Prefers Living In Chicago Over Charlotte
New Chicago Bears DE Julius Peppers recently talked about his departure from the Panthers and the city of Charlotte.
He also said fans would come up on jet skis to his home on the lake and park for a while peering inside.
SB Nation's Cat Scratch Reader has a solid breakdown of the entire interview and sums things up pretty well.
Read more at SB Nation's Panthers community, Cat Scratch Reader.
Mar 21 5:20p by Joel Thorman - 0 comments