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| Philadelphia. (US Presswire) |
Eagles cornerback Asante Samuel showed up at voluntary workouts in Philadelphia a couple days ago, and he seemed content, saying, “Of course, I love it here. This is my home. I've never been to a place I love more than Philadelphia. It's up to management. I want to be here. I've always voiced that opinion. It's up to them."
And since it’s up to them, it’s sounding like Philadelphia is trying to trade away Samuel and his $9.9 million salary. We told you that two months ago, but it sounds like the trade rumors are heating up as ESPN’s Adam Schefter writes that the Eagles are “shopping” Samuel around the league with the draft a week away.
You’ll recall that Samuel, for as much guff as he takes for not wanting to tackle his opponents (and not being very good at it), led the league in interceptions in 2009 and 2010. As Pro Football Focus notes, opposing quarterbacks threw deep at him 12 times last year (on throws of 20-plus yards), and he only allowed one catch. Besides that, the quarterback rating against him was an anemic 52.9, and he only gave up 296 receiving yards.
But with the acquisitions of Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie before the 2010 season, that gave the Eagles more flexibility in who they can use in their secondary. Last year, Rodgers-Cromartie didn’t do much, but the team might figure it can get by without Samuel anyway.
“We’re always open to phone calls and to seeing if something works,” Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said in February, “and really if there are win-win situations for particular teams and particular players, we’ll look at that and make a decision kind of in a vacuum.”
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