Asante

[notex]

ok so samuel had a great game...and those were all pretty nice picks...he cut in front of hte receivers and made some nice plays...i think hes going to be offered big money...what should we do?
PS i saw another post on this subject but i thought it would be a good poll question so dont get mad at me for double posting it.
party on patsfans...
:rocker: :rocker: :rocker:

Hey just a quick fix...i meant to say #1 corner on the last option but dont know how to change it...w/e you get hte point

 

[patriotspride]

You can kiss him good bye after this year

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

That game yesterday will give him his pay day...

 

[PatsFanInVa]

I guess your third choice makes sense if he goes to the Bears... he has experience being a receiver in Grossman's understanding of the offense...

 

[CTPatsFan]

I guess your third choice makes sense if he goes to the Bears... he has experience being a receiver in Grossman's understanding of the offense...

ten characters

 

[Brownfan80]

With only Hobbs under contract for next year and with Asante likely gone... I have a feeling our secondary will look very different in 2007.

We need some solid guys at CB and S.. the face of our defensive backfield is about to change.

 

[PatsMyBoyz!]

Mangini will grab him so fast his head will spin.

:enranged:

 

[MrTibbs]

Asante is gone, nobody is taking short money anymore. Thats what happens when those Super Bowl days are becoming a thing of the past.

 

[Rob0729]

It all depends what he asks for.

I am always weary of guys who have breakout years their contract year. A large number of them become disapointments after they get their deal. Is Asante really emerging as a top CB in this league or is he more focused this year because of the free agency carrot in front of him? Before the Pats can even negotiate with him, they need to get their best guess which is the case.

I'm guessing he will want a big payday and the Pats will not want to pay it.

 

[Brady-To-Branch]

I voted for # 3. This team isn't stupid. They will spend the big money if they have no choice. If the Pats don't spend the big bucks to maintain this defense, their '07 season will be over before it begins.

 

[PatsDeb]

I voted for #3. I think BB knows having at least one top flight corner is a necessity, and he probably doesn't want to relive the Branch debacle. Asante is a really good player. Wouldn't the prudent thing to do for the team be to resign Asante, even if you have the pay him the big bucks, and then use one of your two first round draft picks on the best corner out there. Then he can learn from Asante and hopefully not have too much of a learning curve. We don't really know too much about Asante - I mean Ty Law was up front as a "Show me the Money" guy. Others, like Koppen and Matt Light quietly took solid (if not the "best out there") deals. Receiver and cornerback seem to be a different animal though.

 

[BelichickFan]

No-one agreed when I said this about Givens but I'll say it about Samuel.

I would Franchise him. We have a huge amount of money. If he signs the Franchise offer, we overpay some but just for one year. Much more likely he seeks out a long term deal. Either with is, but we have a little more control with the tag, or with someone else who we then trade him to.

As a UFA we're probably looking at a #4 comp pick assuming he gets the big contract we're expecting. Maybe a #5 if he gets less than we're thinking.

Franchise him. Either get him back for one year. Or encourage him to re-sign with us. Or trade him for better than the expected comp pick. I'm not saying we'd get a #1 for him but I have NO DOUBT we would get a #3 (probably #2 but say #3). That's a #3 in 2007 vs. a #4 or #5 in 2008. It's a no brainer to me. The only risk is that he signs the Franchise offer but it's one year, not long term, so it's very low risk.

 

[Brady-To-Branch]

BB values CBs far more than WRs.

Unlike Law, Samuel is still in his prime and is coming off his rookie contract. Law was coming off a lucrative 2nd contract and his extention demands, for a player his age (over 30), was outrageous.

If Samuel does great in the playoffs, he'll become the top CB in the FA market, if he isn't right now. Either way, the Pats will tag him. They won't let Asante walk for nada.

 

[MDD]

Samuel is a second-tier #1 corner. If he is offered second-tier #1 corner money by the Pats, he stays with the Pats. Simple.

The (main) reason Branch is no longer with us is that he wanted first-tier #1 wideout money, yet he is the Asante Samuel of receivers.

 

[Brady-To-Branch]

Samuel is a second-tier #1 corner. If he is offered second-tier #1 corner money by the Pats, he stays with the Pats. Simple.

The (main) reason Branch is no longer with us is that he wanted first-tier #1 wideout money, yet he is the Asante Samuel of receivers.

Where's the facts to support your statement? According to KC Joyner, who studies and breaks down game film, Asante was a big reason the Pats won their last SB. Samuel was so good in coverage that year, that the Pats were able to shift coverage to Gay's side.

Name the CBs who are better than Asante right now?

Champ Bailey and who else?

 

[MDD]

I think his inconsistency makes him second-tier. There were times last season were he was plain bad. Also, his height, or lack thereof, works against him. To answer your question, I would count Bailey, Barber, Jammer, O'Neal, Surtain, possibly Hall but that's pushing it, as "first tier" guys overall.

Look, this isn't an exact science but if you ask 50 NFL players, who are the top 5 corners in the league, how many would choose Samuel?

 

[arrellbee]

Oh good grief. Here we go again. Throw big bucks at a guy who is producing in a Belichick scheme but isn't in a class with top players in the league. Never mind figuring out how you balance the roster salary cap to pay the middle class and depth. You can't legitimately propose something like this unless you say which players down the roster that you are going to cut when you have spent the money on a few of the "we just have to keep him" players or who you won't pay the "big bucks" to when they come up for resigning because you have already spent your money on the Samuels type players. Seriously - get out your pencil and do some math. Remember while you are at it that this new CBA put a big inflation factor into all of the positions in the league and every resigning that the Pats are faced with is going to take a significant increase to keep the players.

 

[Brady-To-Branch]

I think his inconsistency makes him second-tier. There were times last season were he was plain bad. Also, his height, or lack thereof, works against him. To answer your question, I would count Bailey, Barber, Jammer, O'Neal, Surtain, possibly Hall but that's pushing it, as "first tier" guys overall.

Look, this isn't an exact science but if you ask 50 NFL players, who are the top 5 corners in the league, how many would choose Samuel?

Barber had one great game vs Philly and he's over 30. Ronde isn't better than Samuel. Tampa's pass D is bad right now. Jammer isn't better than Samuel and Hall is overrated. I will ask KC Joyner this week to rate the top 5 CBs in the NFL right now. Surtain??? He's ready for pasture.

Who's the best AVAILABLE CB right now? Who would we replace him with?

The best way to judge CBs is Yars Per Pass Attempt, which I don't have right now.

 

[Rob0729]

Where's the facts to support your statement? According to KC Joyner, who studies and breaks down game film, Asante was a big reason the Pats won their last SB. Samuel was so good in coverage that year, that the Pats were able to shift coverage to Gay's side.

Name the CBs who are better than Asante right now?

Champ Bailey and who else?

I think the Pats feel Hobbs is better. Before his injury, Hobbs was the guy usually matched up with the better WR. Also, when they were experimenting with Wilson at CB during the preseason, Samuel was relegated to back up duty even in practice.

Maybe over the course of the season they have changed their minds on Samuel, but I think this coaching staff likes Hobbs prospects better than Samuel. If that is the case, chances are they will not pay him.

I know a lot of people on this board are down on Hobbs, but we really can't evaluate his play over the last month or so because he is playing with a cast which has seriously hampered his play. Hobbs is an aggressive player and the cast limits what he can do. If when he gets the cast off he plays like the Pats thinks he can, I think Samuel is a goner.

 

[MDD]

Another way to look at it: Conventional wisdom says that either Graham or Samuel will get paid, unless we're trying to compete with Arizona for "most cap space".

So which one? Graham or Samuel - underrated TE who is injured 3-4 games a year, or "prety good" corner that you'll have to overpay in this market?