Asante Says Eagles Had Him 'Swinging Like A Rag Doll'

Asante Samuel isn't surprised that the Eagles were only able to get a seventh-round draft pick for him in April.

"They had me out there swinging like a rag doll,'' the 31-year-old four-time Pro Bowler, told me Sunday. "Hey, we got Asante Samuel up for sale. I feel like they devalued me. But it is what it is."

Samuel is appreciative to Eagles coach Andy Reid for trading him to the Falcons, which was his top destination choice because it's a Super Bowl contender and it's relatively close to his family in Florida.

"Coach Reid and I sat down and considered the options," he said. "He let me pick and choose where I wanted to go. This was the No. 1 place I wanted to go. There were a couple of other teams interested. But ultimately, this is where I wanted to be."

"My family means a lot to me and I got a couple of other situations going on in my life. So it was important to be close to home and my family for whenever they need me and things like that."

Some other highlights from the interview (you can read the full story in tomorrow's Daily News or on philly.com):

--On his four seasons with the Eagles: "I don't think any defensive back ever did what I did over there. Andy Reid never had a cornerback that had nine interceptions. Most he had was one with seven. You can talk whatever about whatever. But my production speaks for itself."

--On whether the fact that his interception totals have dropped each of the last three years is an indication that he's slipping: "You can't really say I'm slipping. Was I thrown at a lot last year? You gotta look at that too. I don't think I was slipping. I'm just having a less amount of balls thrown on me. If I was getting all of the balls thrown at me and only had three picks (his 2011 total), then yeah, I'm slipping. But that wasn't the case."

--On suggestions that he won't play press coverage: "I can play any coverage. It's never been a problem. I can play press, back off, zone, man, whatever. I prefer to play off. But I can play press and never had a problem with it when they asked."

--On not being traded last season after the Eagles acquired Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Nnamdi Asomugha: "When they first traded for DRC, I got a call from upstairs and everybody was excited. `We got DRC. You and him are going to be great together.' Then, no sooner did they hang up then I got another call telling me they had signed Nnamdi and that people were calling and wanting to trade for me. First, they said, `You're not up for trade. Those are just rumors.' But at the end of the day, it was all a lie. They did have a trade on the table (at the October trade deadline). But it broke down at the last minute. So we just kind of played the season out, seeing how it went."