There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 48 hours remaining for the Panthers to sign Jordan Gross to a long-term contract.
NFL network's Adam Schefter says the Panthers are making considerable progress in the Gross negotiations. They've got to get Gross signed up by Thursday, so they can keep him off of the free agent market.
They don't want to use the franchise tag on Gross they want to use it on defensive end Julius Peppers.
Gross is really holding all the cards because his teammate Peppers has said that he doesn't want to sign a long term deal with Carolina. Had Peppers been willing to sign a long term deal, the Panthers may have been working on a long term deal with the big defensive end rather trying to work out a deal with Gross.
Schefter said that he got some news from a source on Monday night which led him to believe that a deal will be reached by Thursday for approximately $9 million dollars a year. That would be the second largest deal ever signed by an offensive lineman.
Of course a deal isn't a deal until it is signed.
The Eagles are waiting for Thursday to see if Gross hits the market. The availability of the Carolina Panther tackle will have a major effect on what the Birds decide to do this off season.
