Who Needs A Stud Corner?

Hi, this is Vince from the Sham-Wow commercials.  Tommy asked me to stop by and help him make a sale.  I asked what the product was and he said “Asante Samuel”.  I said “What!!!! You don’t need me.  Asante sells himself.”

Who doesn’t want an elite corner?  That’s like asking Hugh Hefner if he’s interested in a beautiful, buxom blonde.  So what if he’s got a mansion full of them.  There’s always room for more.

Let’s say your in a tight game and need an interception.  BAM!  There’s Asante jumping a route and picking off a pass, then running it back for a score or to set up a score.

Let’s say your Safety tips a pass and the ball goes tumbling to the heavens.  As it then descends, who is there to catch it?  ASANTE, that’s who!!! The man is a walking big play.

You need a helmet-to-helmet hit on a defenseless receiver?  Asante’s your man.

How good is this guy???  QBs are scared of him.  SCARED!!!  Eli Manning says he doesn’t know what to expect from Asante so he won’t even throw his way if he can help it at all.

Asante is a tad pricey.  I’ll grant you that.  But so is a BMW!  You want a BMW, pay BMW prices.  You want a bargain, go buy a Kia.

Asante isn’t young.  Neither is Kobe Bryant, Albert Pujols, or Gordie Howe.  And yet those guys remain the best players in their respective sports.  Ditto that for Asante.  Heck, just say his name – ASANTE.  That’s fun, right.  That’s the name of a guy you want on your team.

Act now or you’ll be left in the dust when Asante is running back pick after pick on your poor, helpless QB.

And he can be yours for the low, low cost of a 3rd round pick.  Make that a 2nd rounder and I’ll personally throw in a Slap-Chop and a partially used Ginsu knife (that’s rust, not blood – trust me).

* * * * *

We’ve seen some movement in the CB market recently.  That got me to thinking about Asante Samuel and his situation.  What kind of market will there be for him?  I think there are plenty of teams who could use him.

TEN
IND
JAX
DET
MIN
STL
TB

Teams like NE, BAL, DEN, and WAS could be interested if they value a playmaking CB enough.   How about Dallas?

The problem is that Asante won’t appeal to all of these teams.  Some will be turned off by his age.  Others by his price.  If you’re a rebuilding team, do you want to invest in Asante?

The other mindset is that CB is such a critical position that it can greatly affect the whole defense and if you aren’t good enough there it can be crippling.  Bad corner play can affect the development of other players on your defense.  At that point, he has value even to a rebuilding team.

You also wonder about the quick turnaround mentality.  Teams go from worst to first all the team these days.  Asante can make the kind of impact to help that process for a struggling franchise.

Clearly he has some warts or the Eagles wouldn’t be willing to deal him.  Those issues will get overlooked by someone who values his playmaking ability.  Don’t forget why he came here.  Back in 2007 we had the makings of a good defense.  Problem was lack of turnovers.  We had 11 INTs that year.  That total jumped to 15 in 2008 and 25 in 2009.  Asante does make a difference.

I would love to see us get a 3rd round pick from someone.  I’m sure the Eagles will start out by asking for a 2nd, just to see if anyone has that kind of interest.  I’d certainly settle for a 4th.  If you can’t get a 4th, maybe you hold him til draft weekend and hope that some team who misses on a player will pony up a 2013 pick for him.

There is the possibility that we could have no takers.  I think someone will value him enough to deal with his age, cost, and issues, but there are no guarantees.

* * * * *

Dave has a good column up on players saying goodbye.  The best part to me is when he talks about Freddie Mitchell and TO.

Mitchell is a classic example of a player who didn’t understand his role, who didn’t have a grasp on the reality of his situation. He could have been a good backup wide receiver here for several more seasons, could have gained great fame in the media from his fourth-and-26 catch in 2003 and his outgoing personality. He could have made a great living for himself staying in Philadelphia and developing ties with the corporate community.

Instead, Mitchell was unhappy in a backup role after four seasons here and wanted to find stardom elsewhere. He signed with Kansas City and never played in another NFL game and his career was over after 90 catches, 1,263 yards and 5 touchdowns. Since then, Mitchell has scuffled to find his way in life and is now facing prison charges.

Just as sad is the Terrell Owens story, one we have talked about a great deal over the years. Had he stayed in Philadelphia and played football and appreciated his situation, Owens would have gone down as one of the all-time great players in league history. He would have been adored in Philadelphia. He would have been a star forever.

Instead, Owens bullied his way out of town, played in Dallas, Cincinnati and Buffalo and never reached the heights he achieved as an Eagle. Owens is now reportedly in a desperate financial situation as he tries to resurrect his NFL career.

So true on both counts.  Freddie could have been a cult hero.  He just didn’t seem to understand that.  He was sure he was the star of the movie and not the lovable sidekick.

And TO will frustrate me to my dying day.  He could have been Dr. J, Reggie White, Mike Schmidt, and Bobby Clarke rolled into one.  Philly loved that dude.  He was a star, on and off the field.  He never had it as good anywhere as he did here.  He could have been the friggin mayor if he stayed and didn’t push the contract stuff.  He had national endorsements while and Eagle.  None since.  He lost so much money by fighting for a new deal in 2005 that it’s crazy.  Won the battle, lost the war.  Idiot.  What could have been…