Asomugha is happy to be where he wanted to be - playing for the Eagles

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - When it became clear he was going to be a free agent, Nnamdi Asomugha had his pick of NFL landing spots.

There was the glamour of New York or playing for "America's Team" in Dallas. There were the up-and-coming Texans. Maybe San Francisco, where he could stay in the Bay Area, where he has spent most of his adult life.

But Asomugha knew he wanted to be in Philadelphia.

"To a man, and woman, everybody that was on my team, they knew that the number one team was the Eagles, from March," Asomugha said Sunday as he met Philadelphia reporters for the first time as an Eagle. "There were a handful of teams at that point. When the Eagles became a possibility, we knew it was a match."

Asomugha, entering his ninth season in the NFL, has never made the playoffs. In the Eagles, he said he saw an organization that is consistently in the postseason. He called it "first class," from ownership to the front office to the players.

"It has a championship feel to it," Asomugha said on his first day at Lehigh. He said he tried to avoid even watching the playoffs in the past, having always missed out. "You always want to put yourself in position to win games, and that's what I'm doing now."

Asomugha's signing was one of the shocks of the offseason. The move was helped by his willingness to favor the Eagles. The team lurked in the background while others placed their bids, then struck when it became clear he was still in their price range. Asomugha said even he was surprised when the Eagles got into the bidding last week, because they had been so quiet before. He got less money - a five-year, $60 million deal - than many expected him to receive.

"There was money out there. There was a market out there with numbers that the media assumed I wanted," Asomugha said. "The thing I wanted most of all was to be in the right situation."

(What might also have helped a little: a "mini recruiting pitch" from Vick at the Pro Bowl and offseason calls and texts from fellow Cal alum DeSean Jackson.)

Asomugha is the Eagles' biggest prize during their weeklong spending spree. He arrives as a proven star, having been named an all pro four times, including each of the last three years. He's a 6-foot-2 cover man who can run and hit and, oh, by the way, is renowned for his charitable work in Oakland and his parents' native Nigeria. He was one of three finalists in 2011 for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.

Coach Andy Reid has said he'll start Asomugha at right cornerback, where he has played for much of his career. It's still unclear, though, how the team plans to use its trio of star corners, including Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Asante Samuel.

Asomugha said he'd fit whatever system the Eagles use, noting how when he came to the NFL, he had to adjust from playing safety in college to being a cornerback.

"I'm a football player. I play within my scheme and try to do the best for the coaches that are teaching me," Asomugha said. "It'll mesh. I'll make it mesh."

Samuel is not in camp yet, excused for personal reasons, and Asomugha cannot practice yet because of league work rules for free agents. He spent Sunday's afternoon walk-through mostly chatting with Rodgers-Cromartie and cornerbacks coach Johnnie Lynn.

Already, though, Asomugha has tried to fit in. Having worn number 21 his entire career, he approached Eagles cornerback Joselio Hanson about a number switch. But when Hanson said he was attached to 21, Asomugha said he'd be fine with 24.

"That's all I needed to hear," Asomugha said. "It's the jersey number. Before all of that, you're the football player. I'm still going to go out there and play my best regardless."