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          Packers' Julius Peppers offers definite maybe to retirement query

          • Rob Demovsky, ESPN Staff WriterDec 5, 2016, 10:10 PM
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              Rob Demovsky is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Green Bay Packers. He has covered the Packers since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2013. Demovsky is a two-time Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year as selected by the NSSA. You can follow him on Twitter at @RobDemovsky.
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          GREEN BAY, Wis. -- As last season wound to a close, Julius Peppers left no doubt about his plans: He was going to play another season.

          Posed with that same question on Monday, the 36-year-old pass-rusher was far less committal.

          “I don’t have a contract for next year,” Peppers said.

          And if someone, whether it’s his Green Bay Packers or another team, offered him one?

          The best he could do was a definite maybe.

          “I want to play as long as I can,” said Peppers, who will turn 37 next month. “If I can play next year, then maybe. But we’ll see about that later.”

          Peppers was in a bit of a reflective mood on Monday, one day after he moved into fifth on the NFL’s career sack list with 142.5. His sack Sunday of Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler gave him 6.5 for the season despite playing a reduced role, especially during the first half of the season.

          “The first goal is to get 100 sacks,” Peppers said. “So you start looking at that thing. I started looking at that about five years ago, trying to get 100 sacks. From there, you keep trying to climb the charts.”

          With Michael Strahan in his rear-view mirror, Peppers now stands eight behind fourth-place Chris Doleman (150.5) and 17.5 behind No. 3 Kevin Greene (160). He won’t catch either one if he retires after this season, and he knows it’s not realistic to think he could catch the all-time leader, Bruce Smith (200).

          “Not for me, anyway,” Peppers said. “For somebody else, maybe.”

          A month ago, it looked like age had finally caught up with the 15th-year veteran.

          Since then, however, his role has increased, and he has a sack in three straight games. He went from playing just 19 snaps in Week 10 against the Titans to 58 on Sunday against the Texans.

          “Julius has just been a model of consistency with what he’s been able to do in Year 15,” Packers linebacker Clay Matthews said. “You lose track, but I’ve always kept track of where he’s at as far as statistically. It’s good to see him just continue to show up week in and week out, year in and year out. I’m happy to see him kind of take hold of that fifth spot and pass Hall of Famers left and right. Hopefully, we can keep him around and they can take that No. 4 spot and work his way up. We’ll see about that.”

          If Peppers can close out the season in similar fashion, perhaps the Packers would consider bringing him back for another year at a lower price. Three years ago, they signed him to a three-year, $26 million deal. Peppers has 24 of his 142.5 career regular-season sacks with the Packers, plus another 3.5 in four playoff games.

          He said he believes it’s reasonable to think he can keep up his recent production, at least for the rest of the season.

          “There’s only four games left; I feel fine,” he said. “The rest early on probably helped save me for this time of year. Who knew that we were going to have a rash of injuries like this come along and I was going to be forced to play? I feel good and like I said, we’re taking it one at a time but there’s only four games left for sure.”