Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson said he doesn't regret the challenge he made this past summer to defensive end Julius Peppers to step up and become the team's defensive leader. Richardson has endured some criticism for calling out Peppers after Mike Minter's press conference and challenging him to be a team leader, even though Peppers is generally shy by nature.

   "I don’t know if I regret it. It turned in to be such an issue, and the fact that it turned into such an issue, I do regret," Richardson said. "I didn’t intend for it to become such an issue. It just seemed like such a natural thing to say. If one leader was leaving the team, and Mike’s value to the team to speak to a younger player about what I said. Somebody has got to be the leader. I chose Julius. I don’t apologize for that. I don’t apologize for it. I don’t regret it. I regret it is one of those things that built up. Some percent of what I say, and whatever I say here today, everyone will have a different perspective on. And I will be interested to see it. It will be one time I will read your stuff.”

   When asked if given' Peppers' subpar performance in 2007 whether it will make his contract situation difficult to deal with, Richardson said, "Any of the football things in personnel, that’s John (Fox) and Marty (Hurney). You would have to ask them.”

   Peppers averaged 10.7 sacks during his first five seasons with the Panthers, but had only three in 2007 and was relatively invisible for most of the season. Some speculate that Richardson's comments irked him, but Peppers said they did not.

   Here are the top 15 base salaries for the Carolina Panthers for the 2008 NFL season. This doesn't include the players' prorated bonuses or any other bonuses due this coming season. This is only base salaries, but this is what the Panthers would save in 2008 salary cap room if they were to cut any of these players. (Obviously they would also save any bonuses due to that player this coming off-season if the players is cut before that due date). This will give you an idea of which players are at greater risk for being cut this off-season or could be candidates for having their contracts restructured.

Highest base salaries for 2008:

Julius Peppers     $6,500.000

DeShaun Foster   $4,750,000

Jake Delhomme  $3,690,000

Mike Wahle            $3,000,000

Kris Jenkins          $2,955,000

Dan Morgan           $2,850,000

Justin Hartwig       $2,150,000

Maake Kemoeatu $1,900,000

Steve Smith            $1,750,000

John Kasay            $1,500,000

Ken Lucas              $1,300,000

Jeremy Bridges      $1,200,000

Chris Gamble         $1,060,000

David Carr                $1,000,000

Jason Baker           $1,000,000

   In other news, the Panthers have added two "street free agents" to their roster -- running back Decori Birmingham and wide receiver Dominique Thompson.

   If coach John Fox is going to tweak his staff, it would likely come this week.

   Remember, last year when the Panthers fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and two others the move came 15 days after the season. This Monday will be the 15th day since the Panthers season ended.

   The Panthers typically use first week after the season to evaluate players. The second week the coaches have off. Henning was fired when he returned from his week off at the start of the third work week, which came on a Monday.

   I've been led to believe there may not be any changes to the staff, which comes as a bit of a surprise given the team's struggles is so many areas in 2007, including special teams. However, the Panthers could be keeping things under wraps. Check back with us on Monday.

   Chances are you have probably never heard of him, but Panthers assistant special teams coach Tony Levine -- yes, the Panthers, like most NFL teams these days, have an assistant special teams coach -- left the Panthers to take a job with the University of Houston late last week.

   Levine will join new coach Kevin Sumlin at Houston. The two have a history together, as Sumlin was Levine's position coach at the University of Minnesota about 10 years ago. Levine was hired to coach tight ends and special teams for Houston.

   Are other coaching moves coming?

   If they're going to happen, chances are they will happen within the next 10 days.

   The coach feeling the most heat may be Danny Crossman (special teams), whose unit failed to improve much over 2006 and remains statistically near the bottom of the league in many categories, including kickoff return average. It would see that if head coach John Fox stays then offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson would get a free pass, too, given Carolina's quarterback problems this year. The jury is still out on defensive coordinator Mike Trgovac.

   As for coach John Fox, we've still heard no confirmation from owner Jerry Richardson that he will return next season to coach the Panthers.

   We are still operating under the assumption Fox will be back based on what he told the NFL Network in an impromptu conversation prior to the Dallas game. However, Richardson has failed to confirm his conversation with Cris Collinsworth through the team's PR department and therefore the speculation continues. All it takes is for Richardson to release a one-line statement through the PR staff that Fox and GM Marty Hurney are staying. As I've said all along, I think they will return, but you can't help but wonder until Richardson actually speaks.  

   Don't mean to throw a wet towel on Carolina's season-ending win over Tampa Bay, but the reality is that meaningless victory cost the Panthers big time when it comes to the 2008 NFL draft.

   Had the Panthers lost, they would have drafted ninth overall. Instead, they will draft 13th.

   The win over Tampa Bay left the Panthers at 7-9 overall, along with six other teams. Of those seven teams, the Panthers finished third-highest in terms of strength of schedule. That means four other 7-9 teams will draft ahead of them in Round 1.

   I understand you don't ever want to send your team out to lose a game, and believe me, I'm not advocating that. But is it just bad luck that the Panthers always (except for 2001) seem to finish a terrible season strong and really hurt themselves in terms of getting a very good draft pick? The good news is the Panthers seem to do a pretty good of selecting in the first round.

   Anyway, here are the top 15 picks in the 2008 NFL draft:

1. Miami (1-15)

2. St. Louis (3-13)

3. TBD by coin flip -- Atlanta, Oakland or Kansas City (all 4-12)

4. TBD by coin flip -- Atlanta, Oakland or Kansas City (all 4-12)

5. TBD by coin flip -- Atlanta, Oakland or Kansas City (all 4-12)

6. NY Jets (4-12)

7. New England (from San Francisco, 5-11)

8. Baltimore (5-11)

9. Cincinnati (7-9)

10. New Orleans (7-9)

11. Buffalo (7-9)

12. Denver (7-9)

13. Carolina (7-9)

14. Chicago (7-9)

15. Detroit (7-9)