Peppers will wear No. 90
Posted by Bob LeGere on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 16:23
The Bears announced this afternoon that recently acquired defensive end Julius Peppers will wear No. 90 in the 2010 season, the same number he wore for eight years with the Carolina Panthers before he left via free agency last Friday.
Third-round defensive lineman Jarron Gilbert wore No. 90 last season as a rookie, but no new number has been announced for him.
When Peppers visited Halas Hall last Friday, he was asked how much he would pay to have Gilbert relinquish the number.
“Hopefully he’ll give it up out of respect,” Peppers said, laughing.
No word yet on how much, if any, money was exchanged for the switch. Peppers’ six-year deal with the Bears could pay him as much as $91.5 million if he hits every incentive.
Can anyone find any leads on who the Bears are going after for safety? Atogwe? Sharper? Anyone? We need new juicy tidbits!
Atogwe would be a huge coup for the Bears because he's better than Antrel Rolle. But that also means he won't come cheaply, although he is the exact kind of free safety the Bears are looking for and is a human turnover-causing machine.
Sharper proved last year that he's not too old to still be an impact player, even if he is coming off arthroscopic knee surgery this year.
Beyond those two, most of the other unrestricted safeties are either too old or are the strong-safety types, which the Bears already have plenty of. Included on that list is former Bear Mike Brown, who actually had a solid season with the Chiefs and was injury-free for the first time is years.