Asante's asking to be traded?

[frankiesfly]

I don't think anything is more valuable than having a reliable CB. Samuel did have a great year, but i don't think he deserved anything more than the tag. If he can't take the tag, and play one more season for 7 million+ dollars, then have the Pats work something out on a long term basis then i think he is being staight up selfish. Losing Branch wasn't nearly as bad as if we lost Samuel. A great CB is way more valuable than a WR in my opinion. There really isn't that many great CB's in the leauge already and getting one from the draft seems to be highly unlikely. I think the Pats will see this and make him happy, but if the Pats don't i would have to agree with them and say Samuel isn't worth more than the tag. Samuel did become one of my favorite Pats over the last couple of years and would defenitly miss him, but life goes on and so does our championship team with or without him. If he wants to end up like Branch and be on a team that isn't going anywhere but down, good for him.

 

[Miguel]

We mid round tendered him last year and he didn't get a sniff of interest for that reason. .

Simply not true. Samuel was not a RFA last year. He signed a 4-year deal as a rookie. Please do not mislead this board with incorrect information.

 

[mac]

I am so tired of these guys about to make 5, 6, or 7 million dollars a year and crying that they are unhappy and are not being treated fairly. Cry me a river.

 

[richpats]

Let me break it down like this. The Pats have to get this deal done with Asante. They cannot let this turn out like the Deion Branch fiasco. If they don't, the secondary will be extremely weak, putting even more pressure on our LB's to get a good pass rush. Losing Asante would be a big blow in my opinion because there isn't anyone to replace him. None of the CB's in the draft excite me. Leon Hall, who is supposed to be the best of the bunch didn't do too well against elite competition. Another poster said it perfectly, how can the Pats give up so much for Wes Welker, yet cannot come to terms with a player who led the NFL in pass breakups and interceptions? Unless Asante is asking for a Champ Bailey ridiculous type money, he will be a Patriot come training camp.

If he's traded, it will not kill the team, HOWEVER it will pretty much keep us behind Indy for the next few years. NE will be traveling to Indy for the next few regular seasons and you can't expect great things with Gay/Hobbs covering Wayne/Harrison.

 

[14thDragon]

Have any frachised players been signed to long term contracts yet?
We hear the Freeney Talks are stalled
Briggs is a debacle
Grant has been *****ing about being lied too
Redding has complianed

The only one who hasn't *****ed is Brown, but that si because he is a damn kicker.

They all whine about the tag and talk about being traded. Players hate the tag and always will. Asante is now going through his public gripe fest phase of the process.

 

[satz]

We go through 15 Db`s a season and for me tieing alot of money on 1 does not seem logical....what if we loss him on the first game of the year.Now we cannot afford any more db`s as we spend all the money on 1.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Do I think Assante is worth Nate Clemmens money ??? no.. But who on the roster right now going to replace Assante? No one.. Which is why we need to get him signed ... I think we will be ok with out him,but still will want him on the team

It's all in the muddy middle. Yes, we want him on the team, good phrasing, but we don't "need to get him signed," bad phrasing.

Even w/Seymour, they didn't negotiate from a position of "need," but a position of a desire to find a mutually acceptable solution. There was give and take, but in the end, both wanted Seymour in NE.

Samuel knows NE doesn't play the need game. He doesn't seem to make any bones about it, and good for him.

Like he says, we all thought they were close, but as of right now, evidently they're not. We'll see as this goes on how much of this is a media stunt... but if it's for real, the only thing I can say is, if you perceive your dollar value higher than the Pats do, but someone in NY or Arizona agrees with you, you have a choice of the bling you buy for yourself or the bling the league gives you... A lot of guys pick the latter. But hey, money is guaranteed. A SB isn't.

Do what ya gotta do, Asante... would love to have you around, but enjoy your season-long holdout or your trade destination. Cuz you are tagged, baby, not a FA. You have no leverage except pouting.

PFnV

 

[NE39]

I can't believe some of you people. Asante came into the league as a 4th round pick and this is his chance for a big contract. I can't blame him for doing anything possible to get that contract.

The business side of the NFL has nothing to do with the actual game. There is nothing personal about this, it is only business.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Offseason was going way too good, this is a little bump in the road..

 

[fgssand]

This seems to be a case of a call for action by Asante....seems to me nothing at all was happening and he went public to re-open talks.

Offers have been exchanged and summarily rejected and negotiations must have come to a standstill.

Asante and his agent are not dumb, they must have felt the need to go public in order to stir things up and maybe get some attention again?

We'll never know what was offered, rejected and countered - that is the most frustrating part of being a fan during player / team negotiations.

Is he being selfish, unreasonable and ridiculous?? Is the team low balling snow balling or simply not able to agree on his value?

I really hope if there was one thing learned over Deion it is that when these things drag on it is counterproductive to focusing on winning to say the least.

I hope this is resolved, favorably and most important - sooner, rather than later. I am aware that they have until 7/15 to ink a long term deal.....but I justdon't want to read 10,000 posts from now until then awaiting resoultion. I am still burned out from Meion posting.

 

[carolinatony]

Trade him to the NFC only imo or the Browns.

 

[AD#96]

I can't believe some of you people. Asante came into the league as a 4th round pick and this is his chance for a big contract. I can't blame him for doing anything possible to get that contract.

The business side of the NFL has nothing to do with the actual game. There is nothing personal about this, it is only business.

the guy had one good season, give me a freakin break. he acts like he came into the league as an undrafted free agent and made the probowl 5 times in a row. he hasnt even made it once and yet hes asking for a dre bly type of contract? man get outta here. if gay/hobbs can get the job done why waste money on a guy like samuel. thats pathetic.

 

[Miguel]

Have any frachised players been signed to long term contracts yet?

Not yet.

Do not know if Justin Smith has mouthed off to the press.

 

[WhiZa]

I'm just glad Samuel said it before the draft when there's a better opportunity for a trade. It's very hard to trade franchise tagged players, so chances are he'll have to play out this year on the Patriots.

The franchise tag is starting to become a joke.

 

[JackBauer]

The way I'm reading into his comments, Asante needs to be traded as quick as possible as he can while landing the Pats proper compensation.

Eliminate all AFC East opponents
No to the Chargers

Maybe the Bears need a third partner for the Briggs trade. Washington can move Rogers or Springs if they really want to.

Giants don't have much to offer except their picks.

Green Bay only has better picks in the draft.

Arizona has a huge item in Edge James, but that doesn't solve the CB position. It does give the team a quality running back to make an even better combo in the backfield. But no.

Cleveland might be a decent option but the compensation is hard to determine.

Ideas?

My idea would be to keep Samuel because relying on a rookie CB is not wise in the least.

 

[smg93]

This is all just negotiating tactics. I'm not worried about this at all yet. I don't think we need to be so emotional about this yet. There's still about three months left before the deadliest of deadlines is upon us.

 

[Pat_the_Patriot]

For all you new guys, no doubt fans for years, but probably a little new to the round-the-clock attention to players leaving and arriving...

One of the things that's great here is all the resources... cap resources, roster resources, people resources... poke around. It's great. It puts roots to all those things we all say like "Well, that's the salary cap for ya..."

Which is basically true, you can say it about all the offseason moves and non-moves. The Samuel situation may be a non-move, when it's all said and done (just like the Branch situation.)

Big news dudes: The Pats didn't have a great offseason because they signed a bunch of players. They didn't have a great offseason because they signed two real marquee guys in that mix. They had a great offseason because they didn't overpay in terms of either guaranteed money, or in terms of average salary per year. It's one team trademark.

And they don't stay competitive year in and year out because God loves them.

They win because they put themselves in a position to win. They exercise incredible discipline in setting a value for a player, and sticking to it.

Somebody else well may value Asante higher. THAT IS OKAY.

I thought we may be headed this way based on the tattoo etc., but things had died down. I was ready for it to go this way then, and I am ready now, and if a little pissant fan like me is ready, you gotta know that the front office and Belichick are ready.

By the way, interceptions? Wannahaves, not gottahaves. Coverage? That's a gottahave. Samuel wasn't bad in that department either, mind you... but he is, whether he understands it or not, expendable.

PFnV

Hey man, nice post... I was a lurker (on a lot of boards) long before I joined this one.... and I do like the extra data, etc. I guess I'm just saying "ditto" on your post (but from a newcomer)... if a man has "Get Paid" on his arm, he's going to go for max value... which is fine, unless you want to play for the Pats. I HOPE that AS is with us next year... but in BB I trust, and if they can get value for him, then I'll be fine with that, too.

 

[denverpatsfan]

Always a darn problem on this team it seems.

Bump his salary up this season to shut him up and let him go after 2007. That's my solution. Win-win.

But of course this country has forgotten about win-win. It's now screw everyone over in order to feed your family.

I'd really like to see him stay for 1 more run at the SB. CB is a tough position to fill. Ty Law is not walking thru that door anytime soon.

 

[patfanken]

I don't have time to read all twelve pages of this thread, so appologies if I repeat stuff that's already been covered. Here's my 2 cents

1. IMHO Samuel is worth about 10-15% LESS than what Dre Bly got. Something in the neighborhood of $5.5MM/yr with about $12-14MM guaranteed. Samuel has had only one great year, both Bly and Clement have performed at a high level for several years now. On the plus side is his youth.

2. As to who is right in this matter depends a lot on what the Pats offered and what the Samuel camp is demanding. If he JUST wants Dre Bly money, I think a deal will get done. If he is asking for Clement money, then I think there could be an impass, that would at least extend this until draft day.

3. As for trades. The Washington trade is a real possibility. They are hurt at CB, as well as LB. It would make a lot of sense. I think giving Washington the 28th and Samuel for the 6th is a little light. Here is what I would propose. The Pats trade the 28th and Samuel for the 6th this year and a 2nd next year, and maybe we take Sean Springs' contract off their hands. Perhaps with good coaching he can be salvaged. He was a great prospect coming out. From rumors coming out of Washingtion, they are looking to get rid of him, and he may just get cut.

With the 6th the Pats draft Landry. They draft one of the good CBs that would be there at 24. They move Wilson back to CB and fit Landry into the FS slot. That would give them a Defensive backfield of Hobbs, Wilson, Landry, and Harrison, with Gay, Scott, Springs and the rookie filling in. That is not horrid. The Pats have won with a lot less back there. Sanders by the end of the year was playing very well, and should be ready to step in for Harrison by 2008.

The deal with Washington also offers the possibility of trading down a spot or two, pick up some future draft picks and STILL get Landry.


4. This comment by Samuels is nothing more than a business tactic. I don't think there is a rift between the player and the organization, so in that matter further negotiations will proceed on a professional basis, at least until the draft.

5. As for whether the Pats are cheap or not, that's a dumb comment. The Pats simply aren't going to overpay on the basis of one great year. We have been there and done that under Bobby Greer as GM. Everybody got paid and the Pats wound up with a talented but very thin team with no depth, and when the inevidable injuries occurred, they couldn't recover. The end result was a very mediocre record, a few one and dones in the playoffs and a big salary cap problem. NO THANK YOU

6. As to those who want the Pats to capitulate and just sign him for what he wants, I ask this question. How many on this board were calling for the Pats to sign Samuel up long term, BEFORE the 2006 season. I don't see any hands raised. That's because BEFORE last season, he was just an average CB in the league. AND there are a lot of precidents where a guy has a great season and never approaches it again after making all the money. No one is saying he dosen't deserve a raise, but you have to be very careful.

7. ONe thing in his favor is he plays a position the Pats value a great deal, unlike WR last season.

8. My guess right now is Assante is wanting Clement type money, and THAT would be a problem. As I said before a contract that was slightly less than Bly's is the fairest deal.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Simply not true. Samuel was not a RFA last year. He signed a 4-year deal as a rookie. Please do not mislead this board with incorrect information.

Touche, but it was not a deliberate attempt to mislead. I was flashing back to Givens. Although after the 2005 season I doubt Asante would have been a hot RFA prospect. I do think coming to camp last season and finding Hobbs in his slot and realizing Belioli had been in hot persuit of Townsend and were still in the hunt for Law was a rude awakening of sorts for Asante, though. I think he and his agent know he must strike while the iron is red hot because next year he could find himself far less marketable through no real fault of his own. His FA season coinciding with his career season have created a perfect storm scenario for him that he may never see again. And today he has the passing of Stingley to remind him of how fleeting an NFL career and the opportunity to set your family up for life can be and just how badly that career can end in the blink of an eye. $8M goes a long way towards setting you up for life, but $16M simply goes twice as far.