What the Pats need is simply a good starting cornerback to replace Asante.
They did not sign a good cornerback in free agency nor draft one.
The Pats took a risk in 2006 when they did not aggressively try to
extend his contract. They gambled and lost when Asante had a terrific
season. The question the Pats have to resolve is whether Asante is a flash
in the pan or an up and coming star.
No, that's the question Asante has to resolve, on the field, for the next few seasons.
What the Patriots and Asante's agents have to do is not
resolve the question, but address it. His trend line points upward; his production was at a high level last season; and he insists he is a proven commodity. The Pats could answer, well, yah, you proved that you can have one very high level season out of four.
So both sides need to realistically adress the question, but Asante's position is tied to getting paid like the best. The very best.
He might be right. But when doubt remains, risk to the team increases; and even in the case of a Clements or more to the point, a Champ Bailey, there is some risk. If nothing else, any given week could be the injury that makes him a shadow of his former self on the field.
So the question is treated as
nearly settled for the Pats: they are paying him as if they assume he will be very good for several seasons (but not the "best in the game").
The questions that Asante's camp must resolve are:
1) Do you want to lose $5M doing a 10-game holdout? and,
2) When this is all over, is anybody
really going to pay you the $10M a year you say you're worth?
A little more math: If Asante says he's worth that, it's a bargain to pay him 7.9M. It's even a bargain to franchise him
again at about 9.7M or so, next year. It's certainly not much of a loss.
On the other hand, if he were going after $6M per year, it's
costing the Pats 1.9M this year, even if he signs the franchise tender.
With the numbers his camp has been talking about, he has no built-in incentives for the Pats, like the idea that signing him now is a good deal versus the expense of the tag, etc. He's down to the holdout tactic, and that's pretty much it.
I've said before and I'll say again -- if he can get what he's asking for elsewhere (
assuming the Patriots do him the favor of trading the negotiating rights,) fine.
If he can not, also fine.
The Pats' secondary may be a weak point, and may always be, if we define "weak" as "top 10" or "top half of the league" rather than "top 5". But they did, in fact, draft a superb corner in the first round, by the name of Brandon Meriweather. It just so happens he plays safety a bit better. They also bumped up the number of "bodies" in the secondary when Rodney and Geno came back, and by bringing in the usual cast of journeymen (Tory James, anybody?) They're patching together the best they can make out of it, and getting ready to go to war with what they have.
Again, it is fortunate that this year, the offense seems poised to compensate, if corner is a huge issue. The reality is probably more that it will not be a huge issue, and the Pats will spend the better part of the season
not playing from behind. But I see their offensive abilities as giving them the firepower to do so if need be.
Again, it helps when contemplating the loss of another good player, in Asante Samuel. It would help more not to lose Asante Samuel.
But if he insists that his value is not where he falls in the Pats' brain trust's scheme of things, what can I say?
In Hebrew, shalom is hello and goodbye. There's an old joke - If somebody leaves after you said it, you said goodbye.
I understand Asante is Swahili for "Hello"... does it mean "goodbye" too?
waxing randomly rhetorical,
PFnV
