It appears highly unlikley that franchised defensive end Julius Peppers will attend the Carolina Panthers three-day minicamp opening Friday.

General manager Marty Hurney said he wouldn't want to say?definitively that Peppers won't attend until players report Friday.

However, Peppers hasn't signed his contract tender and thus isn't required to attend.

Hurney said he has had productive, albeit?inconclusive,?talks this week with Peppers' agent, Carl Carey.

"I have had conversations with Carl and they've been positive," Hurney said.?"It's part of the process. LIke we've said before, we've been with Julius this past seven years and he's done all he can to help us win game."

Hurney and the Panthers continue to expect that Peppers will play for them next season.

Asked whether he expects Peppers, a four-time Pro Bowler,?to report for the start of training in late July or early August, Hurney said: "I don't want to go into our conversations. Our talks have been positive."

Peppers' contract expired after last season. He and Carey said he preferred to move to another team and believed that was necessary in order to reach his maximum potential.

They were hoping the Panthers would not place the franchise tag on Peppers, but the team did.

Other teams could have sought to trade with the Panthers to acquire Peppers before the draft, but none came forward.

It is even less?likely now that a team would trade for Peppers, or that the? Panthers would entertain an offer,?but it is still within the bounds of NFL rules.

-- Charles Chandler

Newstex ID: CH-2326-34569407