I think Samuel re-signs

[Crazy Patriot Guy]

I don't look at this situation and think of Deion Branch. A lot of fans will see a free agent that can command a lot of money and instantly decide he's gone because the Pats won't pay the money.

Deion Branch wanted stud WR money without playing like a stud WR. Asante did play like a stud corner. He didn't just intercept bad passes, his instincts made several of those picks and he's constantly knocking down passes. (#1 in the NFL)

You watch Samuel play and he looks like a guy that can be a shut-down corner. I think the Patriots know this. And with the cap space we have, they could make a contract that uses a lot of room this season so we don't have to restructure or cut him after three seasons like so many teams do.

I could very easily be wrong but I expect him to be here next season. Again, I just don't see this going down like Branch.

 

[Fixit]

It doesn't look like Asante's pretending that the last year of his contract doesn't exist, either.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

I say the only way he comes back is he is franchised...

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

Because of all of the negative publicity the team got , last season, with the Branch situation, I think the Pats will make a very honest effort to settle the Samuel situation quickly.

Negative publicity like that can only do harm if you are trying to get decent free agents signed.

I hope you are right

 

[BradyManny]

He's not going to be worth the $$. Ty Law in his prime was a much more talented corner than Asante, and we didn't pay him.

Hobbs played admirably with a cast on his wrist the whole season. We were planning on moving Wilson over to CB this season before the injury next season. Go with Hobbs-Wilson as your corners, draft a quality backup maybe, but spending the money on Asante doesn't seem like VALUE to me, as much as I love the guy. He priced himself out.

 

[cstjohn17]

Because of all of the negative publicity the team got , last season, with the Branch situation, I think the Pats will make a very honest effort to settle the Samuel situation quickly.

Negative publicity like that can only do harm if you are trying to get decent free agents signed.

I don't think the Patriots care about PR when they build their roster.

We will know more if they franchise Samuel, if they don't and he hits the market the odds are not in their favor. Maybe they sign him maybe they see more value in signing Graham and another player as a better value move. For the same salary as Samuel will get they could sign two good players:
- pick any two (Hamlin, London-Fletcher, Curtis, Edwards, Graham).

 

[BradyManny]

For the same salary as Samuel will get they could sign two good players:
- pick any two (Hamlin, London-Fletcher, Curtis, Edwards, Graham).

Co-sign. (10 chars)

 

[PATRIOTS-80]

I don't think the Patriots care about PR when they build their roster.

Punt-returner? Yes. Public-relations. No.

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

Asante will be franchised. I don't see an extension being worked out though. Law wants a multiyear deal which pays him as a top corner and NE only gives those out to special players with a history of performance.

He's not going to be worth the $$. Ty Law in his prime was a much more talented corner than Asante, and we didn't pay him.

Huh? NE most definitely paid Law in his prime, though the contract was signed before Belichick/Pioli. BB/Pioli even paid him something like $10M in '04, a year that had always been seen as a bogus year that would never be paid. They chose not to pay an injured and past-his-prime Law big bucks.

 

[PromisedLand]

He's not going to be worth the $$. Ty Law in his prime was a much more talented corner than Asante, and we didn't pay him.

What are you basing that opinion on? Ty had several very mediocre years.

 

[fgssand]

He's not going to be worth the $$. Ty Law in his prime was a much more talented corner than Asante, and we didn't pay him.

Hobbs played admirably with a cast on his wrist the whole season. We were planning on moving Wilson over to CB this season before the injury next season. Go with Hobbs-Wilson as your corners, draft a quality backup maybe, but spending the money on Asante doesn't seem like VALUE to me, as much as I love the guy. He priced himself out.

We most certainly did pay Ty Law - the contract he signed before SP/BB came aboard was honored. It was the next contract that Ty Law was looking for what he thought would be much more money than we offered, as I recall, in the end, it wasn;t that much different at all.

As for Asante - I think we will take the "risk" that he is on his way to becoming one of the top 5 corners and will play at a high level for the next 4 years or so. I think we will pay him a very nice amount and enable him to re-up for big money one more time at 29 - hence a four year deal.

Since we do have plenty of cap money and since there are not a lot of free agents out there, we will pay somebody, might as well be Samuel, TBC and Graham. The only way I feel we won't is if we strike a deal with one of the top free agents such as Thomas or one level down - we may have enough money to do it all actually.

Since I think the Pats need a publicity boost when it comes to press, fans and more important other players. While IMHO it is totally not accurate and not true, the perception that NE wont pay is out there - thanks to branch. DB refused to honor his contract and refused to negotiate for whatever reason, but that gets overlooked.

 

[JoeSixPat]

I think Samuel re-signs .

You're Crazy

No seriously, the reason you don't see this being anything similar to the Branch situation is because there is nothing similar to the Branh situation here


Branch was under contract. Samuel is a Free Agent.

Branch was due to get $1 million. Samuel, if franchised would be due to get nearly $8 million.

While it makes sense to sit out to force a trade for a new contract (for a big payday) if you're Branch, for Samuel to sit and give up $8 million is a completely different matter.

So while Samuel would prefer a longterm contract, with a big signing bonus for guranteed money, he's not going to sit out the season and give up $8 million.

The threat of a tag might encourage him to agree to a more reasonable long term contract - assuming the Patriots want that and wouldn't prefer to use him as a franchise player as a stop gap for a year or even two... again, no long term risk to the team and they can certainly afford it for a year or even 2 given $30 mil in cap space.

Amid all this supposedly the Patriots have said they don't intend to use the cap on Samuel - which makes no sense to me, especially at this stage of the game -

But aside from that, take any comparisons with Branch off the table because the two situations are completely different.

 

[LloydBraun]

They will offer Asante a fair value deal. If he wants to be here and be paid fairly, it will get done.

If he wants to get crazy money, a la the Redskins for example, he will go.

 

[JoeSixPat]

They will offer Asante a fair value deal. If he wants to be here and be paid fairly, it will get done.

If he wants to get crazy money, a la the Redskins for example, he will go.

Although his agent won't acknowledge it, privately Samuel, the Patriots and every other team in the NFL will recognize that Samuel's 10 interceptions is in part due to the Patriots' scheme that created a zone where Samuel could take chances and go for the INT knowing the Safety had his man covered.

We saw that well illustrated in his pick against Indy where Sanders took on Samuel's man while he came forward and got the INT.

Now that's not to make light of Sameul's contribution - he's VERY valuable to the Patriots - and other teams that play a similar scheme (like the Jets) - but he's not suited to pick up 10 INTs on every team and every scheme.

Ty Law is a different player in that he's much better suited to a man to man defense - and wasn't all that happy when playing zone.

I think Samuel should be franchised or signed long term precisely because he DOES fit in so well here, unlike Law, who was here when BB came in and BB, wasn't really a zone D guy but BB was smart enough to use him well - and likely would have used him well again if Law had been willing to sign for reasonable short term money.

 

[BradyManny]

NE most definitely paid Law in his prime, though the contract was signed before Belichick/Pioli.

We most certainly did pay Ty Law - the contract he signed before SP/BB came aboard was honored.

After the 03 season in which Ty Law was arguably the team MVP, we made no effort to extend him, but why not honor a 1 year deal for one of the best CBs in the league? It was a no brainer.

They correctly predicted that Law would decline and they will correctly predict that Asante is not worth nearly whatever he is about to get in free agency. It's all about value once again.

The 8 mill spent on franchising him could be better spent elsewhere.

 

[NEPatriot]

I don't look at this situation and think of Deion Branch. A lot of fans will see a free agent that can command a lot of money and instantly decide he's gone because the Pats won't pay the money.

Deion Branch wanted stud WR money without playing like a stud WR. Asante did play like a stud corner. He didn't just intercept bad passes, his instincts made several of those picks and he's constantly knocking down passes. (#1 in the NFL)

You watch Samuel play and he looks like a guy that can be a shut-down corner. I think the Patriots know this. And with the cap space we have, they could make a contract that uses a lot of room this season so we don't have to restructure or cut him after three seasons like so many teams do.

I could very easily be wrong but I expect him to be here next season. Again, I just don't see this going down like Branch.

I hope Asante is resigned. His ball skills are great. However, I wouldn't call him a shut down corner. He just doesnt have the speed for it. But he is smart and knows when to take chances.

 

[fgssand]

After the 03 season in which Ty Law was arguably the team MVP, we made no effort to extend him, but why not honor a 1 year deal for one of the best CBs in the league? It was a no brainer.

They correctly predicted that Law would decline and they will correctly predict that Asante is not worth nearly whatever he is about to get in free agency. It's all about value once again.

The 8 mill spent on franchising him could be better spent elsewhere.

Tell me where we can better spend the money??

I don't totally disagree with you about Asante, actually i am not sure if he is really on the rise and off to true greatness, or if he will "get paid" and revert back to mediocrity. However, this is a unique year in that this is an off season that has very few FA's and many teams with lots of money to spend, i think we are better off signing him right here and now during that exclusive period where we can.

Worst case - apply the franchise tag, to either keep him or trade him.

No question in my mind though that we need to sign graham, make a run at those few FA's that are out there and target a few RFA's too.

 

[Jimke]

Sooner or later, the Pats are going to have to spend big money

for their players. The salary cap under the new CBA is going to

dramatically increase over the life of the contract. (Assuming that

unhappy owners like Ralph Wilson don't decide to revoke the CBA in the next

couple of years.)

 

[satz]

They made a 31 million offer to branch
and 17 million to givens.

They found a bigger deal which we cannot afford...so they left.Pats are going to make a offer in the order of 7 millon siging bonus with a 25 million dolla contract.

But he is going to get 14 million siging bonus /36 million contract from some one.

 

[cstjohn17]

That may have been in the past, but now thjey have been stung, and I believe it IS affecting their relationship with potential free agents.

ANd,now that they may appear to be a team on the decline (I dont believe that to be true, but the media can make somehting seem to be what it isnt) They need to create something POSITIVE again, and IMO, that would be taking care of the Asante Samuel situation before it becomes a problem.

Anyway, to me, that seems to be the sensible thing to do.

They are not going to change and they shouldn't change.