If Deion Branch and Josh McDaniels can come back into the fold, there’s no reason Asante Samuel can’t do the same. This year’s Wes Welker franchise tag situation is similar to how it played out when the New England Patriots slapped the tag on Branch and Samuel in the past. If Welker, wants to hold out, and leave- fine.
He’ll soon see the grass was greener where he was. Cornerback Asante Samuel needs to as well. Like the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, the Eagles are pretty desperate to sell
And consider this from The Victory Formation:
Samuel is not considered to be one of the better cover-corners in the game, but he is probably the best route jumper in the league, twice leading the NFL in interceptions. His ability helped him land a gig in Philly following 5 very productive years in New England. But the Eagles less aggressive defense does not let him take the chances that he needs to be productive, and therefore he doesn’t have a future on the City of Brotherly Love.
The Eagles believed they would be able to lull someone into giving up an early draft pick, a 3rd rounder at best, but nobody has been willing to give them that much. But since the Eagles have zero room for him on the field, they need to dump his contract elsewhere. He is set to make $10 million this season, and might just have to be willing to accept no higher than a 5th rounder free up the money they so desperately need and cannot risk losing.
Samuel has a tattoo on his left arm that says “Get Rich To This.” And I hope NE is rich to the idea of bringing him back, because a 3rd-rounder would cost them nothing. Especially this year when they have two first rounders AND two second rounders. And Lord knows they need secondary help- they were the NFL penultimate pass defense. Only the Packers gave up more passing yards, and they yielded a continent’s worth of yards.
When Patrick Chung, a decent player though he may be, is far and away your second best member of the secondary (Devin McCourty is best) then you have serious issues. I mean Julian Edelman was covering Anquan Boldin in the AFC Title Game. Seriously! This trade deal needs to happen.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, MSN and Fox Sports
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