The REAL perspective necessary here is this: earning the average of the top 5 players at his position, Samuel will earn 11x the salary of the average U.S. worker
at each game. Put another way, Samuel this year will earn as much as nearly 180 average Americans put together.
And he thinks that is an insult.
Oh pahleese...this isn't about us and them. Every player in the league earns what he will based on a skill set and talent that we can't or chose not to compete with, fueled by our propensity for being entertained by a game select few can play at the professional level. It's no different than comparing movie stars and school teachers - as BB woud say it is what it is.
The problem with
this assessment is that you are comparing two choices of which one, "likely to get $20M or more" is impossible, because he's been franchised. He plays for the Patriots, or he plays for no one. Regardless of any media speculation or team manipulation (Jets), you can't seriously believe that someone is going to fork over 2 1sts AND overpay.
The decision RIGHT NOW is between 8M for this year and risking getting the tag again, holding out 10 games and making only 3M, or signing a long term offer. So by your logic, 8 vs 3 vs 13 (or whatever) .... 8 ...3 ... 13, should be a no brainer right ?
He probably figures it's as impossible as Deion Branch getting his last year when he was actually holding out while under contract to us for 1 more year. How'd that tactic work out for Deion?
Remember two other factors play into this. First, the longer it goes on, the more cap money gets locked up in trades and teams redoing deals. Second, if he decides to play the holdout card, it can only damage his overall value to other teams. Leaving the reduced stats and being off for a year. For if he thinks getting paid 8M this year is an insult, what's to stop him from holding out a year or two down the road when some other team overpays for another DB ?
Teams don't care about holdouts unless they are theirs. And there is plenty of money still floating around out there thanks to the new CBA and TV deals increasing the cap dramatically since 2005. A long term deal for Asante can easily cost half of the tag salary alone against anyone's cap this season. All they need is cash for bonus structure and the desire to sign him. He is apparently aware of several teams who would be interested if he were not tagged, and I'm sure he believes or perhaps is even sure they would be interested in proceding at something less than the prescribed draft compensation should the Patriots decide to soften their apparent stance. Asante is trying to soften them up the only way he can.
7 out of 10 don't sign their franchise sheets and hold out ? Huh ? The reason most observers agree that he will play or sign is because holdout franchise players are so rare.
R