Julius Peppers Joins Bears As Part Of Chicago's Free Agent Signing Spree

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.