Julius Peppers would like to play for the Patriots, but the team may not be able to afford the defensive end's salary. A league source confirmed on Tuesday that no trade is imminent between the Panthers and Patriots, based on the fact that Peppers has yet to sign his franchise tag tender with Carolina, and thus cannot yet be traded. Under the rules of the franchise tag system, Peppers will earn $16.68 million in 2009 once he puts ink to paper. New England was believed to be between $15 million-$18 million under the cap after dealing Matt Cassel to Kansas City, but that was before they signed Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden, and re-signed James Sanders and Mike Wright.