I will never understand the pure hate our fanbase has towards Asante. Our d held the Giants under 20 points. Our legendary offense didn't show up. A corner, not wr, dropped the ball. Other defenders dropped the ball that game as well. Mankins played like garbage etc. If he had held on to the ball he would be regarded as one of the best cb we have ever had but a single drop erases the consistent ballhawking plays from everyone's memory.
Asante was more of a ninja than cb and was special. Rewatch old games and you will see he was never a detriment for us when it came to tackling as well. He used that same burst showcased at jumping routes to deliver hit stick like tackles that were awesome. At the end of the day I wish we had kept him. It would've probably been cheaper to just pay him than the scrubs we had to go through such as Deltha O'neal, Chad Scott, Willhite etc. It literally took years to replace him. I don't care how he played with the Eagles, he was important to us and I think he was right to value himself the way he did.
I get it. We don't overpay. Yes our results speak for themselves but if I was a player I would be on Asante's side. I feel like we get over on players more often than not. If I was in Edelman shoes, I would've held out for top dollar around 2015. It took Edelman awhile to become elite but once he did I don't think he has sniffed elite money and now he is old. Combine the fact that we can't draft wrs, Edelman could have had us by the balls worse than Branch did.
We are the team where vets come to play one solid year and then get paid somewhere else. That is going to change until we get another franchise qb. Our luster is gone. I'm nervous/excited to see what kind of players we attract when we are just an ordinary franchise. Once covid is under control, we will see how BB truly rebuilds without Brady.