Replacement for Samuel

[JDSal45]

If Samuel leaves, would Drayton Florence be a decent replacement? Combined with 2 corner draft picks? Florence isn't great, but he is a starter and given the list of free agents, not bad. He is a decent player I'd say.

Ideally, if we lost Samuel, Marcus Trufant would be a great replacement. But he is also a Pro Bowler and would be about the same cost as Samuel anyways. So that is probably out.

Florence would probably be a decent choice.

J D Sal

 

[jays52]

Drayton Florence would be the Reche Caldwell of defense...I wouldn't go NEAR him.

 

[JDSal45]

Drayton Florence would be the Reche Caldwell of defense...I wouldn't go NEAR him.

Take a look at the free agent list, who would you suggest? He wasn't so bad to prevent the Chargers from going 14-2 last year and 11-5 this year. And he picked off Tom Brady in the playoffs two years in a row.

J D Sal

 

[jays52]

I actually think that they will retain Samuel and back-end his contract. Everyone thinks he's Ghost like Swazey just because of the Clements deal last year. I actually think the Pats are going to give him a fair contract, provided there is give on both sides. Most teams will make incentive-laden contracts with little guaranteed money. The Clements deal for example had everyone saying "80 mil, 80 mil!" when in actuality, it is worth closer to 35 mil.

In the end, the players overwhelmingly want guranteed money. Football is a violent game and players careers could end on any down. They are VERY aware of this, and tend to gravitate towards deals with more concrete cash. I could see the Patriots giving him a long-term deal.

 

[JDSal45]

It would be ideal if they retain Samuel. This is an IF THEY DON'T post.

J D Sal

 

[cblesz]

Drayton Florence? Are you serious? He is not good. That would be like replacing Samuel with Randall Gay...

 

[lander]

There's a reason we're letting him walk. He can make plays but he tends to have mental lapses. Remember his head-butt in last year's divisional playoff game?

 

[JDSal45]

Drayton Florence? Are you serious? He is not good. That would be like replacing Samuel with Randall Gay...

Again, what is your solution if they can't retain Samuel?

J D Sal

 

[Jimke]

If Samuel leaves, would Drayton Florence be a decent replacement? Combined with 2 corner draft picks? Florence isn't great, but he is a starter and given the list of free agents, not bad. He is a decent player I'd say.

Ideally, if we lost Samuel, Marcus Trufant would be a great replacement. But he is also a Pro Bowler and would be about the same cost as Samuel anyways. So that is probably out.

Florence would probably be a decent choice.

J D Sal

Unfortunately, JDSal45, there is no magic bullet if the Pats lose

Asante. I hope the Pats negotiate fast and furiously over the

next three weeks and make him a serious offer. No low ball offers

this time around. The best you can hope for from a high draft

pick is to be the nickle back at the start.

 

[cblesz]

Again, what is your solution if they can't retain Samuel?

J D Sal

Certainly NOT Drayton Florence. There is a draft. But they already have Randall Gay. Randall Gay = Drayton Florence.

 

[JDSal45]

Unfortunately, JDSal45, there is no magic bullet if the Pats lose

Asante. I hope the Pats negotiate fast and furiously over the

next three weeks and make him a serious offer. No low ball offers

this time around. The best you can hope for from a high draft

pick is to be the nickle back at the start.

Answer the question. IF they lose Samuel, who is the veteran you acquire to compete to start? Yes, they draft someone. But last I checked, they'll still have to start two corners.

J D Sal

 

[cblesz]

Answer the question. IF they lose Samuel, who is the veteran you acquire to compete to start? Yes, they draft someone. But last I checked, they'll still have to start two corners.

J D Sal

Can't start a rookie?

 

[BradyManny]

Asante isn't going to be worth nearly what he is going to get. Frankly, all statistical analysis pointed to Hobbs being as effective, even if that doesn't pass the eye-ball test. Asante just makes big plays and that's why we remember him. Ironically, he dropped a sure interception that would have got us 19-0.

Let Asante walk. I saw a thread the other day citing that Law might get released. Sign me up. Law, Hobbs, Gay, Meriweather, Harrison, Sanders + draftee. There's your 08 secondary.

 

[JoePats]

In one December game, the announcers said that opposing QBs were completing 82% of the passes thrown at Drayton Florence. He's horrible.

I agree there is no magic bullet with Asante. That's going to be a very tough position to replace.

 

[BelichickFan]

I would like to get Samuel back but I don't see it happening. And that will weaken us.

We have two JAG UFA CB in Gay and Chad Scott. If we re-sign them, that's 3 with Hobbs - then add a draftee, whether at #7, after a trade down or one of our two #3s and we can get by. We'll lose something but Samuel went from 10 INT to 6 and had just 1 in the last 8 games.

I'm not trying to diminish the loss but Samuel just isn't worth the money IMO and we'll have to make do with Hobbs, a fairly high draft choice (or two) and a JAG or two.

I also wouldn't be surprised to see Meriweather get a lot of playing time - even starting - to get some more youth and athleticism out there.

 

[Caspir]

Nnamdi Asomugha. Have faith that the Raiders will mess up and not be able to re-sign him.

 

[Remix 6]

Nnamdi Asomugha. Have faith that the Raiders will mess up and not be able to re-sign him.

dream. i would actually pay $10/yr for him. no joke

6"2, second best CB. i love Samuel but this man is better..simply put

 

[JDSal45]

Can't start a rookie?

If he's good enough, but you need a vet to compete with him. You don't hand a rookie the job before you even know who he is. And free agency, the good players for the most part, are snatched up before the draft.

So you sign a guy like Florence, a solid NFL player, draft a rookie or two and let 'em compete.

J D Sal

 

[Jimke]

Answer the question. IF they lose Samuel, who is the veteran you acquire to compete to start? Yes, they draft someone. But last I checked, they'll still have to start two corners.

J D Sal

There is no easy answer to your question. The free agent closest to

Samuel is Marcus Trufant who you state correctly will be almost as

expensive as Samuel. The rest of the free agent cornerbacks are

mediocre compared to Asante. I expect the Pats will try to re-sign Gay

if Asante leaves. Maybe, he would be the best of a poor lot. The

last decent free agent cornerback the Pats pursued was Deshea

Townsend of Pittsburgh. He used us as leverage to get a better deal

from the Steelers. In recent years, the Pats traded for Duane Starks and

signed Eric Warfield, Tory James, and Chad Scott. Maybe, They might also

re-sign the latter. The last good free agent cornerback the Pats signed

was Tyrone Poole. He and Hank Poteat are probably available. There is

no good solution to the problem except to try like hell to re-sign Asante.

 

[Jimke]

I would like to get Samuel back but I don't see it happening. And that will weaken us.

We have two JAG UFA CB in Gay and Chad Scott. If we re-sign them, that's 3 with Hobbs - then add a draftee, whether at #7, after a trade down or one of our two #3s and we can get by. We'll lose something but Samuel went from 10 INT to 6 and had just 1 in the last 8 games.

I'm not trying to diminish the loss but Samuel just isn't worth the money IMO and we'll have to make do with Hobbs, a fairly high draft choice (or two) and a JAG or two.

I also wouldn't be surprised to see Meriweather get a lot of playing time - even starting - to get some more youth and athleticism out there.

I think that you're being too optimistic. With Samuel, we made Jay Feeley

and Kyle Boller look like Peyton Manning. Without Samuel, we may make

Rohan Davey type quarterbacks look good. You can cover for average and

below average cornerbacks if you have a pass rush like the damned Giants.

The Pats pass rush is not that good.