Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel could pull a “Deion Branch” and sit out some of next year’s NFL season, if the New England Patriots do not pony up the dough, or trade him. Asante Samuel had ten interceptions last season; that good enough to be tied for first place in the NFL with All World defensive back, Champ Bailey.
Bailey, the Bronco’s corner, was the highest paid cornerback in the league until the San Francisco 49ers made CB, Nate Clements, the richest defensive player in NFL history by inking the defensive back to an 8 year $80 million deal.
Clements only had 3 interceptions last season with the Buffalo Bills, and returned one for a touchdown. Samuel had 10 picks for the Patriots last season. Asante also has four post season interceptions, three of them were returned for touchdowns, none of them bigger than his interception against Peyton Manning and the Colts in the 2007 AFC Championship game.
This past off-season the Patriots tagged Asante Samuel as their franchise player, meaning that he would get paid the average of the top five salaries at the cornerback position for the entire year. That number is set to $7,790,000. That seems like a nice lump of cash to me, the only problem is that Asante feels that he can get top dollar on the open market; basically he wants Nate Clements money. The Patriots will never make a player on their team the highest played player at his position.
Is Tom Brady the best all around Quarterback? Probably. Is Richard Seymour the best all around defensive end? He is up there. But neither of these guys make top dollar at their position, and they are the cornerstones of the Patriot’s dynasty.
It’s been no secret that Asante has been eyeing a fat contract for a while now. Boston Globe sports writer Jackie MacMullan wrote a great piece about Asante Samuel entitled, Payment Due, the article appeared in the Boston Globe on January 7, 2007. In the article MacMullan describes the rough life that Asante Samuel lived growing up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Samuel and his family were poor. When Samuel made it to the NFL he got the words, “Get Paid” tattooed across his chest. The tattoo is reminder that the NFL is a business and he needs to make some money while he can. The 26 year-old Samuel is in the prime of his career, and if the Patriots don’t act soon Asante will be getting paid by another team next season.
1 response so far ↓
Mrs B // April 10, 2007 at 3:42 am
As we all know, our friend Bob puts a price on every players head and they can take it or leave it. It’s greed vs commitment, Vinatieri vs Brown.
Only 4 more months till football season!!
Keep writing, your blog is most entertaining.