How much of a loss was letting Asante Samuel go?

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

While the loss of Brady was the biggest loss in the BB era if not in NE sports history, I think Asante Samuel departing for more money could have been a big mistake on the team letting him go especially since there was enough cap space for it to happen - I do not know if it would have caused problems with the cap in future years but looking at this for this particular year I wish we could have figured a way to do it without much damage to the cap.

We have seen that you can no longer replace good players with JAGs and off the street players like the team used to,those days are over IMO

You can't replace Brady with a high school quarterback and obviously you can't replace Samuel with a Bengals reject - We survived the Duane Starks project but I don't think its as easy this time.

The minute Rivers immediately passed in the direction of O'Neal for the huge gain on the first play I realized and remembered that San Diego did not usually go to Samuel's side of the field when they played them the last 2 years and picked on Hobbs instead but Hobbs played well anyway,but they knew O'Neal was not very good so with the loss of Samuel the Chargers unloaded all game towards O'Neal's way - They must have knew O'Neal would be overmatched.

I think after Brady the second biggest loss this team has endured for the past 6 years has been the loss of Samuel

Samuel had been injured earlier for the Eagles but that does not mean it would have been the same if he had still been here

Would Asante's presence have been a difference in the Miami and San Diego games?,maybe not but you would have to think the opposing offense would have planned differently down field.

 

[maryjane]

While the loss of Brady was the biggest loss in the BB era if not in NE sports history, I think Asante Samuel departing for more money could have been a big mistake on the team letting him go especially since there was enough cap space for it to happen - I do not know if it would have caused problems with the cap in future years but looking at this for this particular year I wish we could have figured a way to do it without much damage to the cap.

We have seen that you can no longer replace good players with JAGs and off the street players like the team used to,those days are over IMO

You can't replace Brady with a high school quarterback and obviously you can't replace Samuel with a Bengals reject - We survived the Duane Starks project but I don't think its as easy this time.

The minute Rivers immediately passed in the direction of O'Neal for the huge gain on the first play I realized and remembered that San Diego did not usually go to Samuel's side of the field when they played them the last 2 years and picked on Hobbs instead but Hobbs played well anyway,but they knew O'Neal was not very good so with the loss of Samuel the Chargers unloaded all game towards O'Neal's way - They must have knew O'Neal would be overmatched.

I think after Brady the second biggest loss this team has endured for the past 6 years has been the loss of Samuel

Samuel had been injured earlier for the Eagles but that does not mean it would have been the same if he had still been here

Would Asante's presence have been a difference in the Miami and San Diego games?,maybe not but you would have to think the opposing offense would have planned differently down field.

don't think so. He's a part of the machine, but not THE part that justifies 10M per year. Or whatever he wanted. When you can't get any pressure at all on a QB, then that's just pathetic. Pats are too old and slow on defense, that's all there is to it.

 

[captadamnj]

Losing Samuel was a loss of a good corner, no doubt. What Samuel wanted didn't fit the Patriots way, however, simple as that. No matter what the team loses short term, the ownership and coaching staff have made it clear that they will not exercise a live for today attitude. This is a tough pill for some to swallow, but it is ok by me.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

don't think so. He's a part of the machine, but not THE part that justifies 10M per year. Or whatever he wanted. When you can't get any pressure at all on a QB, then that's just pathetic. Pats are too old and slow on defense, that's all there is to it.

The Patriots have only 4 players on defense 30+ years old so I don't think they are so old on defense but indeed they are very slow off theball and that is the problem - reaction time,not age

 

[maryjane]

The Patriots have only 4 players on defense 30+ years old so I don't think they are so old on defense but indeed they are very slow off theball and that is the problem - reaction time,not age

I agree but comments like that will get you shot around here. Or banned. OR called a troll.

 

[j00fek]

lookin like its very big for this D

 

[italian pat patriot]

i thought we would have been fine also without him but probably i was wrong

 

[Va_Pats_Fan]

lookin like its very big for this D

But you have to measure what paying AS 10M would do to the current team. Pioli will noy play close to the cap, and the pats usually have a 2 - 4 million reserve. So, to keep Asante, we need to shave 7 or 8 Mil from the cap.


When you do that, is the team better?

 

[dhamz]

The question wasn't really whether to let him go or not when the price is 10m a year.

The question is how much were they hurt by really not doing much to replace him. The signed some JAG free agents and drafted a couple players who I don't think anyone expected to start year 1.

 

[Sicilian]

Short term, a huge loss. I don't think he was worth $10m a year, but he was still our best playmaker on defense. With the offense struggling, we could really use a playmaker.

Long term, very minimal loss. Being competitive year in and year out means not overpaying for players, even if that means you won't be as good as you could be for one particular year.

 

[Kontradiction]

I'd rather let him walk. Obviously the loss was huge. But is it better to keep him around and pay him $10 M per year or use that $10 M per year to rebuild this defense in the offseason? I, personally, will take the latter.

 

[Krugman]

Good question.Assante was certainly a playmaker(although the pass he dropped in the last few minutes of the SB was painful).Consider this, 1)we dont have much of a pass rush this year,that might affect his stats and 2)he has been injured,and therefore missing for a few weeks.When you think of that and the price you would have to pay to keep him,I find it easier that the Pats let him go.Probably over-simplifying it ,but points to ponder.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Good question.Assante was certainly a playmaker(although the pass he dropped in the last few minutes of the SB was painful).Consider this, 1)we dont have much of a pass rush this year,that might affect his stats and 2)he has been injured,and therefore missing for a few weeks.When you think of that and the price you would have to pay to keep him,I find it easier that the Pats let him go.Probably over-simplifying it ,but points to ponder.

He was injured I believe in an exhibition game or in camp with Philly

Does not mean he would have been injured here - Different place,different opposition -different scenerio,you get my drift- who knows if he would have gotten injured at all early in NE?

Its not realistic to say he was injured there and he would have been injured here is all I can say for that.

 

[jmt57]

The Patriots' philosophy is to try and make the team competitive every year. In order to accomplish that, they won't pay beyond the value they assign to a player, because that will result in negative cap positions in the future. If you look at the teams that field quality teams year after year - Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, etc. - they all often let important starters walk, yet remain competitive. The Eagles obviously placed a different value on Samuel than the Pats did, but the overall view of focusing long-term is similar.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Good question - though hindsight is 20/20 much as with letting Branch go, one really can't second guess the decision not to expend that type of money to Samuel.

The fact is you can't keep everyone and its especially tough to keep the guys with the highest price tags - there's a lot of pros and cons that have been discussed about Samuel's going back into the offseason and I remain convinced that it was the right thing to do on a number of different levels.

Would I prefer him back on a one year contract? Sure. But that wasn't going to happen.

 

[Brady to Brown]

The loss is bigger now that Brady has gone down.

If Belichick knew that there would be no Brady, he would have signed Samuel.

 

[Pats726]

Good question - though hindsight is 20/20 much as with letting Branch go, one really can't second guess the decision not to expend that type of money to Samuel.

The fact is you can't keep everyone and its especially tough to keep the guys with the highest price tags - there's a lot of pros and cons that have been discussed about Samuel's going back into the offseason and I remain convinced that it was the right thing to do on a number of different levels.

Would I prefer him back on a one year contract? Sure. But that wasn't going to happen.

I agree..iy's always a tough call...but over paying for a player is not what the Patriots do. But it's also important to not just look at Samuel isolated..as if they had paid him, there may have been a ripple effect of players wanting more money because of his being paid. The team does have a sort of pay structure and philosophy and if that's changed, there are effects beyond the one player in question.

 

[JoePats]

I agree with most here. The question is not whether Asante is better than Fernando Bryant or Lewis Sanders or now Deltha O'Neal. The answer to that question is obviously yes. But rather the question is simply was Asante Samuel worth 10 mil per year, or roughly 9% of the salary cap? Probably not.

 

[billdog3484]

Asante's good, but his departure is not the reason we are struggling.

 

[CheerforTom]

On one hand, our secondary looked pathetic last game and it's obvious something needs to change, whether that be different players, more practice or new defensive schemes.

On the other hand, this post could have been verbatim what everyone was saying about Deion Branch through most of 2006, and we came within a minute of the Super Bowl that year.