Please...give that man a cigar.
They know the odds of getting a #1 in trade for that player are also pretty remote because other teams know that too. So next year the Pats would be up against it to trade a player counting almost $10M against their cap. The player would also be getting squeezed since he would never be a UFA and would be forced to agree to go to whatever team offered them the best trade compensation while also willing to sign him to the kind of lucrative deal he is entitled to persue. Or he could say screw it, I'll play here for $10M and force your hand again. All Asante would have to do is communicate the the media that he is not willing to play ball in tag year 2 to drag this out past the draft in April. Then the Pats are stuck angling for a trade that nets them lesser compensation in the 2009 draft, a draft n which they would have gotten a 3rd rounder in comp anyway if he walks.
If they wanted draft compensation for Asante they would have attempted to trade him this season. They didn't. They tagged him to play. That tells me they may think a little more of his individual skills than many of us do and they may just want a second shot at getting him signed long term. This move creates the good will necessary to have a shot at getting that done.
Either way they didn't cave, they did what they believe is in the best interest of the team first in the immediate term and second in the longer term. They were willing (albeit grudgingly) to give Deion what he wanted in a long term deal at the 11th hour last year (cave
) and when he wouldn't even agree to take it, they punched his ticket out of town (cave
). This time they did what they had to insure the player not only plays here this year but could potentially play here long term (OMG they didn't bust his ass???
). It may not work out that way when all is said and done, but that is the track they have chosen to persue in this teams best interest. That fans who cannot see this because they had a preconceived notion etched in stone that THEY had it all figured out, should come as no shock even here where fans of a three time champion all envision themselves to be smarter than most.