You can put away those questions about Julius Peppers retiring.
When asked by the Detroit Free Press' Dave Birkett at the league's inaugural NFL Business Academy through Michigan's Ross School of Business whether he plans to play for the Green Bay Packers in 2016, Peppers replied: "Oh, yeah. Yes."
The 36-year-old pass rusher enters the final year of his three-year deal with the Packers, but plans on playing several more seasons.
"I'm just saying that I'm 36, so, in the next four years, somewhere in there, I should be done," Peppers said.
Peppers believes his postseason comments about the upcoming season were misinterpreted and he never intended to retire.
"I think somebody kind of took (my comments after the season) out of context," Peppers said. "They asked me after the game what did I think about next year, and I was just saying that pretty much everybody has decisions to make and that type of thing. But as far as I know, I think I'm going to be playing next year, unless something happens that I don't know about. And that's possible."
That "something" could be the Packers possibly asking him to take a pay cut or perhaps bartering an extension to lower his $10.5 million salary-cap hit. With Nick Perry and Mike Neal set to be free agents, the Packers need to hang on to Peppers.
Even in his mid-30s, Peppers can still get after the quarterback. The pass rusher compiled 10.5 sacks and showed no signs of slowing down. Entering his 15th season, Peppers is tied for ninth on the all-time sacks list with 136 -- most by any active player. He's just six sacks away from sliding past Michael Strahan for fifth all-time and 15 sacks from fourth place.
