The Eagles' asking price for Asante
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The Eagles' asking price for Asante
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
After the Eagles signed Nnamdi Asomugha, Joe Banner, Howie Roseman and company made it clear they would at least be willing to listen to offers for Asante Samuel.
However, with the season opener a little more than three weeks away, the Eagles now seem content to hold on to all three of their Pro Bowl-caliber cornerbacks.
"It's what I told him initially and what I've told you, he's on our football team," Andy Reid said earlier this week. "That's what he is. As you know, in this league people are always talking. That's what Howie Roseman gets paid to do and every other GM is paid to do. He knows that he's on this football team, and that's the way it is. You can ask me a question about any other player, and that's how it works. People are always calling, asking, and all that, it's part of this game. But he's on the team."
According to Michael Silver of Yahoo Sports, the Eagles did shop Samuel and were asking for two second-round picks in return. Apparently, no team has been willing to pay that price.
If you've been reading MTC since the Eagles signed Asomugha, you know I think it's a good idea to keep Samuel. I explained why in this post.
GRANT TALKS EAGLES
Unlike many other free agents, Giants safety Deon Grant did not want to become an Eagle this offseason.
And per Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News, Grant "hinted" that the Birds actually showed some interest in him.
"Those guys beat us two times (last year)," Grant told Vacchiano. "They took two games from us. So I don’t want to go and join forces with them, I’d rather go out and compete against them again and try to get those two victories they took from us last year.
"I felt like we started something here last year and we didn’t finish it," Grant added. “When I have something like that in my hands, I like to finish and I think this year we can finish. And then with all the things going on in Philly right now, that’s the type of team that I love to face. I’m a competitive guy so with them making all the additions they made I wanted to be on the other side of the ball to go against that."
The Eagles lost safety Quintin Mikell in free agency, but added veteran Jarrad Page. Nate Allen and Kurt Coleman have been getting first-team reps, but second-round pick Jaiquawn Jarrett is in the mix too for a starting job.
CAP SPACE?
According to Jason La Canfora of NFL.com, the Eagles have $2,188,270 in available cap space.
Remember, that number is not set in stone. They can free up room in a variety of ways, including extending Michael Vick (who is currently on the books for $16.1M with the franchise tag) and/or releasing/trading veterans.
The one expense the Eagles have yet to add is a new DeSean Jackson contract. Jackson is reportedly scheduled to make $600,000 in 2011.
Earlier Tuesday, I posted my training camp awards.
You can follow me on Twitter or become a fan of Moving the Chains on Facebook.
- Don't necessarily think the Eagles would lose all of the bonus money. If memory serves me correctly, the Falcons got a large chunk of Vick's bonus back when he was originally indicted. My prediction is that Jackson will get a new deal after the third preseason game, when the Eagles let go a few pricier players, like Joselio Hanson. Vick will sign sometime during the season.
— beegal99 - the ignorance of frank is breath taking,,, truly. Get a clue.— chitowniggle
- Chitowniggle; Hey dummy, I just explained to you the Eagles would be at risk for many millions if they gave Vick a huge upfront bonus...and since everyone knows that Vick can be sent immediately back to prison if he violates his probation, this is certainly a consideration that the Eagles need to consider, that's just good business sense....I know you are not too swift, but exactly what part of this don't you understand?— frank105
- If the Eagles want to win it all this year, they don't trade Asante. Those two draft picks don't help until next year, best case. If they share my view, that it's a 1000:1 winning the Super Bowl with three young linebackers and three young safeties, then Asante's value has already peaked, and it could be wise to trade him this month. I want him to stay. I want to see what these corners will do together in packages on D.— armchairGM
- You don't trade him, you load up with 3 fantastic corners that play 50% of the time anyway, have injury insurance, and give the lineman that extra second they need to apply real pressure. Two draft picks doesn't help this year, and Jackson has already said he'll play the year out. Find a way to trade Hanson, and then give Jackson an extension that makes this year and next guaranteed, and load up the money next year. You do not downgrade the one position that is absolutely vital to play with the Packers, Saints and Falcons. It's also been said that a Vick extension could lower his cap hit for this year free'ing up money, and with some other cuts, it can be done, without trading Asante. He's the playmaker back there.— Bleue
- Frank, I think the Eagles, and pretty much everybody at this point aren't concerned about the risk of Vick going back to jail. I am sure there will be something written in the contract tha will keep Vick far away from anything that will get him in trouble. They are working on re-doing his deal as we speak and then they will get Desean done. That makes good business sense, the franchise tag doesn't that's why it's so expensive to use it— yourdaddy!
- Ask the Falcons about taking a risk on Vick...they lost $20 million in bonus money they paid him, and were charged with $15 million in cap space after Vick went to prison.— frank105
- Just shows you how valuable teams consider draft picks to be, that you can't get 2 seconds for a pro bowl cornerback. And how amazing it was that Roseman pried DRC and a 2nd out of Arizona.— blaqjaq
- frank obviously doesn't like Vick, so he's hoping he'll go back to jail. Not happenin'. Vick's a lot smarter than when he was younger. He's not going to mess up a chance to get his money back.— mike l
- All of you saying trade Asante are crazy. First of all, theres a thing called INJURIES. Second of all, Asante has made COUNTLESS big plays for us since he's been here, and he is the CLEAR vocal leader on D. He is notorious for his ball hawking skills and reading QB's, he will nake even more plays this year with us getting more pressure on the QB, and with Nnamdi instead of Dmitiri Patterson on the other side, with DRC in the slot. The Eagles asking pice should be NOTHING, he shouldnt be available. Period. Sign Vick and theres D-jax money, cut Hanson as well.— PhillyPhreezer
- Try to unload Hanson and Parker for draft picks....keep Hunt!— DavezMental.Com
- cant believe a team is not willing to give up 2 2nd rounders for samuel who is a guaranteed 7-8 interceptions every year. find two rookies in the draft that can get that many INTs in a year. they should be asking for at least a 1st rounder.— sdffa13
- Frank105 is a complete idiot. When he referred to the NFC East as the NFL East and ACF East as the AFL East, He should be barred from this site
. Gobirds!— gobirds17 - It really shouldn't be that difficult. If you cut Joselio Hanson, you save 2.4 M this year, re-work Vick's deal plus the 2 Million still under the cap.— Dantana
- Asante is a huge play maker and has the kind of heart that this D needs! I wouldn’t be too quick to shop him!— TheQuick
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