Just like that, another football season is in the books.

And it’s a good thing I don’t have to make my living as a sports prognosticator.

Like the dreams of thousands of prospectors during the 1849 California gold rush, my Super Bowl prediction didn’t exactly pan out.

Still, since I didn’t really have much of an emotional stake in either team, I’m not too upset with the result. The Saints are a great story - and so is Drew Brees. As a Charger fan, I wasn’t on board with the decision to dump him in favor of Phillip Rivers in 2006.

Rivers was a first-round pick, so the reins were going to be handed to him eventually. But I’m somewhat old-school when it comes to football, and I didn’t think Brees deserved to lose his job to injury.

And now Brees has a ring, while Rivers is still looking for one. Good for Brees.

Now that the Super Bowl is in the rear-view mirror, it’s time to turn our attention to the next season.

Because, as any football fan knows, there are four seasons: The pre-season, the regular season, the postseason, and the off-season.

And this offseason is one full of uncertainty - for a number of teams in the league, and for the league itself. If a new collective bargaining agreement isn’t reached, there might be no season in 2011.

As it is, there won’t be a salary cap in 2010, so when free agency gets going in a few weeks, the haves of the NFL are going to be able to stick it to the have-nots. That’s going to be a bad deal for the small-market teams of the league - like the Carolina Panthers.

The Panthers have a big decision to make in the next 12 days - what to do about standout defensive end Julius Peppers.

I listened to Peppers’ somewhat rambling interview on WFNZ-610, The Fan out of Charlotte the other day. And it really sounds like the Panthers have dropped the ball with Peppers.

In the space of a few weeks, Peppers went from a guy who seemed interested in re-signing with the Panthers to a guy who wants out of Carolina.

The Panthers are between the proverbial rock and a hard place. They can’t afford to let him get away for nothing, and in the current labor environment, they’ll have a hard time finding a team to trade him to.

The only palatable option at this point, as much as it might further alienate Peppers, is to place the franchise tag on him again and buy some time.

Frankly, if that happens, Peppers will still make over $20 million next season.

To play football.

Somehow, I’m not thinking that Peppers will find much sympathy for his plight in a state with double-digit unemployment and folks struggling, often working two and three jobs just to make ends meet.

He’s a great football player, just the kind of player the Panthers can build around. And despite his obvious frustration - Peppers going on the radio was a shocker from a guy who isn’t exactly a media hound - he sounds like he’d be open to staying.

There’s still time. Let’s hope this relationship can be saved.

Contact sports editor David Vantress at 997-3111, ext. 14 or via dvantress@yourdailyjournal.com.