Assante speaks about his contract negotiations!

[signbabybrady]

Good lord is Butch Stearns annoying. He looked so disappointed to hear Asante say that "things are lookin' pretty good."

He did a good job he asked the question four diferent ways and got a good answer each time and it left us all feeling good, if he asked just once and didnt follow up he may not have sounded annoying but we wouldnt have thought asante sounded as telling.

 

[ayjackson]

It was a nice upbeat interview, you had to love the "we" and "our" usage as a fan awaiting a re-signing. Sad to think all my plans to trade him for that 1st round Punter are going out the window though.

Imagine having a punter under control for five years! That would be sweet!

 

[zippo59]

Imagine having a punter under control for five years! That would be sweet!

But it's a punter....lol

 

[chunkypony]

I would love for this to happen, I just hope that its for reasonable money. The Pats have been reasonable so far this off-season.....hope they continue.

If this does happen, this will really open up the draft as far as choices.

I couldn't agree more. I do not want the Pats breaking the bank on this guy who played excellent in his cotract season, but not as good in his other seasons....I don't know if I would have felt better if they franchised him for this year, and then signed him after he proved what he could do....


I am still giddy at this proposition though...I thought for sure #22 was a goner...

BRING ON THE DRAFT!

 

[Fencer]

That would be great.

And this is the right time -- i.e., before the draft.

 

[Remix 6]

Stearn was trying to put Asante on the stop to make him answer a very tough question.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

But it's a punter....lol

One of those Punter snobs? :snob:

 

[VJCPatriot]

Loved the way that interview came off. Looks like Asante is looking to remain a Patriot! :rocker:

So any guesses what it will take to get the deal done? I'm thinking 5/50 or 6/60 with something like a 12-15M signing bonus. Asante would be getting paid but not with as much funny money as I'm sure is part of the Clements deal.

 

[mgcolby]

Oh darn, that sucks! There, I feel better. What were we talking about and why is Keegs wearing a lamp shade?

I'm with ya!

The only thing that gives me comfort is the man makes big plays in the playoffs! Well at least one big one.

If they get him signed to a reasonable deal then cool. But honestly the second best CB on the team shouldn't be the highest paid!

 

[hwc]

So any guesses what it will take to get the deal done? I'm thinking 5/50 or 6/60...

If you're gonna do 6/60, you might as well do 8/81 and give the guy bragging rights. Same difference.

 

[mgteich]

He should be able to get a deal like Stallworth's, with more money is year one.
We basically need him to play this year and he needs a very big payday or free agency next year.

and the whirlwind continues maybe Asante is next......

 

[Gwedd]

Fellers,

I hope it all works out. Asante is a good cover man. He's not up in the stratosphere yet, but he's getting close. If he plays this year as well as he did last year, then he'll be worth whatever it costs.

If a team, in the backfield, has one really good shutdown corner, then when you have that, you force the other teams to take account of him, and that always tilts the defense into your favour.

I hope we retain Samuel. He's good enough, and that's all anyone can really ask.

Respects,

 

[Brady to Brown]

He should be able to get a deal like Stallworth's, with more money is year one.
We basically need him to play this year and he needs a very big payday or free agency next year.

I don't understand what you mean.

He has been tagged for 2007. Thats way more money than Stallworth. No way the Patriots give him more than $8 million (his current cap hit)

I normally agree with your posts, I guess I don't understand this one.

 

[patsfan55]

I don't understand what you mean.

He has been tagged for 2007. Thats way more money than Stallworth. No way the Patriots give him more than $8 million (his current cap hit)

I normally agree with your posts, I guess I don't understand this one.

he means more money in yr one than stallworth's yr one

 

[Ice Cold Bruschi]

he must have said "you know" in one form or another atleast 50 times during that interview

 

[shakadave]

Hopefully the way it has gone is this:

Now that we got Stallworth signed, we know exactly how much is left in the cap bank. We can now move on to a Samuel deal with firm knowledge of our finances.

Stay here, Asante!

 

[TealSox]

Geez, lets hope that Assante is re-signed. Will the Pats need draft picks after locking up their CB?

 

[RayClay]

Wow! Just wow!

 

[DarrylS]

The more this season develops it is obvious that the Pats were not satisfied with last year, not only with the acquisitions, but going into their offseason workout program with no disgruntled employees and plenty of talent.. I thought last year that they had sufficient talent, but guess not and the braintrust is approaching this year much differently.

 

[pats1]

Samuel optimistic in interview with Butch Stearns

http://www.myfoxboston.com/myfox/pa...n=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=6.1.1

BS: "What can you tell us about your future with the Pats?"

AS: "It's looking pretty good."

BS: "Anything else you can say?"

AS: "My mouth is shut by Bill."

BS: "But, here's my point: If I'm a Patriots fan, I saw the franchise tag. We always think 'That's a bad thing,' the players are going to be angry and all the sudden it's going to get bad from there. You're telling me that's not the case?"

AS: "Well, yeah, in my case, things are looking pretty good. We'll see how it goes. I don't want to say too much. We'll see how it goes."

BS: "I would imagine then, if things are going good, at least that's the way you feel, that you gotta be encouraged by all these signings for a lot of reasons."

AS: "Yeah, no doubt about it. To see the Patriots actually doing the things that you don't expect them to do. It's looking pretty good."

BS: "Tell me what you know about Adalius Thomas. Fans are excited about this guy."

AS: "Man, he's a big. A big guy. 270 lbs. He can run like a DB. In Baltimore, he's even lined up at DB before. He played gunner, which the CBs and WRs play. He's a very athletic, explosive guy."

BS: "You gotta wonder if you guys are thinking the same things we're thinking. Bill Belichick, with a guy like that, put him in that defense, my goodness, what's he going to do?"

AS: "Exactly. You never know where he might end up at. It's going to be exciting to see what he can do for us."

BS: "As a player, with 2 #1 picks, what do you hope the team does in the draft?"

AS: "I really don't get into that, but I hope they get the best possible player to fit our system and help us win."

BS: "I mean, specifically, do want to add some more guys to the defense? I know if I was on that side of the ball, it's mixed emotions, because if they do, and it's a guy at your position, you're like 'well...wait a minute,' but then again, you guys know better than anyone else, when it comes to the game, sometimes you're depleted."

AS: "Right, anytime you have more depth with guys that can start the same way your starters can, it's always great. You can rotate, you can keep guys from not being tired, you have a lot of depth. If one guy goes down, another can step right in."

BS: "What do you think about Donte' Stallworth?"

AS: "Another explosive guy. He did a great job when he was healthy for Philadelphia. He makes plays. He's been making plays ever since he's been in the NFL. I know he's very fast."

BS: "How about Wes Welker. I know he doesn't get a lot of pub, but as a defensive back, when you're on the other side of the ball, he's the type of guy where you need to know where he is at all times."

AS: "Right, and I just know on offense, he's a PR/KR. All the guy did for the Dolphins was make plays, day-in and day-out. When we played him, two times, that was one of the guys Bill always highlighted - 'watch out for this guy' - 'make sure you know where this guy is on 3rd down' - 'when he gets the PR, make sure you got him sandwiched in so he can't break lose.' He makes plays."

...

AS: "I don't see how it can go bad. I can only see good things in the future."