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Lawyer Milloy.....I mean Ty Law.....I mean Deon Branch.....I mean Asante Samuel might want to rethink the 7+ million dollars he would make for this year should he sign.
Anyone see him in the same class as Bailey? (And I am a Pats Fan) Granted he did have a great year......A.....one....singular.....Show it to us again and I guarantee you will get paid.

Just not by the Pats.

It makes sense for Samuel to sign for the year and the Pats to agree not to franchise him next year. Then they can work out a long term deal or just say goodbye.

I fully understand why players fear the franchise tag. Imagine that you have a great year and are up for contract. You get tagged and have to wait for another year before you get a fat long term deal, only if you get injured you're screwed. That said, the NFLPA agreed to this about a decade ago, so although being franchised stinks, it is an agreed part of the NFL union structure. I don't have the expertise to guess on how this could be remedied, if it can be remedied.

Asante has been good since he's been with the Patriots and had a great year last year, but is he worth Champ Bailey or Nate Clements money? I don't even think Nate Clements deserved "that much" money, and all the 49ers did was inflate the position's salary (as Minny did with Hutch last year). So in my (not so) humble opinion I don't believe Samuel as good as Bailey or Clements and shouldn't be paid their money. I do believe he's good and the best the Patriots have, but apparently the Patriots think they can manage without him.

Amazing. Moss is in the weightroom early, showing up at non-mandatory camps, while Samuel says he won't show up until the 10th week of the season unless he gets $10 million a year because he had one great season.

Who's the TEAM guy again?

Trade Samuel for Briggs...

Capt-Flint I could see that happening.

I find what NERO said to be true. I happen to be a very close follower of the Pats and could not agree more. Samuel has been GOOD in his New England Tenure and he showed flashes of Greatness last year. The Tag does seem to carry such a stigma with it though and it is hard to fathom why.

You would think that being told that you are good enough to warrant the average of the top 5 salaries at your position was a compliment (When you know you are not in the top 5 skill wise, or rather have not proven beyond a shadow that you are) but such is not the case.

This is going to hurt NE, but not as much as you think. They seem to have done their homework and should be more then serviceable at corner and safety to keep their defense in the top 10.

A Colvin / Thomas / Bruschi / Briggs / Seau / Vrable linebacking rotation helping Seymour / Wilfork / Warren / Green put pressure on the QB would be a devastating, deep front seven.

Move Wilson or Merriweather to corner with James / Hobbs / Scott / **** and Harrison / Sanders / Hawkins and you have a very servicable secondary made better by the front seven.

And Briggs comes cheaper than Samuel...

Oh, excuse me, Legion of Decency -- Randall ****...

Briggs may not be worth the Head-Ache either, Capt.

Maybe someone with a cheaper price tag could be dealt for plus a throw-in developmental prospect. Thinking about young guys that have shown they can play like Seattle's Tatupa or NYJ's Vilma. I realize that New York is in the same division, but there had been rumors that they were looking to deal him this offseason.

Also, this would not be the first time NE pawned a corner off to the NYJs

The question is whether Briggs would sign a long term deal the team could live with. If so, he's not a headache. If not, the deal wouldn't happen anyway.

Briggs is like 26 years old and would maked the team younger at LB without giving up quality.

Samuel thinks he's worth a lot more than the Pats do. Briggs might be more in line with their scale at LB, especially if he places value on coming to what can be argued is the best team in the NFL...

Good Point, if he were to play along. A lot of Big Ifs surround Briggs. One writer from SI.com seemed to question whether or not if Briggs would perform at the same level in a non-Tampa 2 defense.

I will admit that that trade would be interesting. The current depth at LB is impressive, even if it may really only have a shelf life of 2 years for the bulk of the staff, but adding Briggs would extend that at least another 5. Again IF IF IF IF and IF all pan out the way we would like to see

To Capt-Flint: Brilliant :) Legion of Decency (LOL).

Irrelevant: The stigma of the label is a result of what I mention in my post. Although you get the average of the top 5 contracts, you get one year to test your value again. Players believe that doing this before the contract year is enough, and the risks of getting injured can cost a player (10s) millionions. Surely there is a solution to franchising but I do not have the expertise to even venture a guess. Whatever compromise is reached in the upcoming Union to Owners meetings will have something to do with eliminating the tag altogether or drastically changing the top 5 average rule. I don't know but it could be ugly. Unless I'm mistaken, players seem to be challenging franchise status more than ever.

Maybe it wouldn't be so ugly if teams would stop with the Over-the-Top-Ultra-Inflated Contracts they keep throwing out. The San Fran deal is a great example. The Hutch deal caused teams to deal 50 mil to mediocre linemen this year. The fallout is already starting, Steeler nation is hearing the rumblings from Faneca, New York is hearing it from Kendall (Not that he rates but still).

Samuel has produce in his 4 years in New England. Since 2003, Samuel has more INT than most of the big name cornerbacks in the AFC. There are only two other cornerbacks (Bailey 23, Mathis 18, Samuel 16, Surtain 16, McAlister 11) that have more INT since 2003. Even Nate Clements does not have more picks than Samuel does since 2003. Why not pay him what he is worth? Now if he goes out, play this year, and get hurt he will be the one screwed!!!

Nero, you practically wrote the solution to franchising. As you say, the problem with franchising is non-franchised players get guaranteed 10s of millions and franchisees do not. The NFLPA, assuming they are willing to include the franchise tag in the next CBA, should require franchise tag 'victims' get a player option for a guaranteed second year (and possibly a third) at the same $ value as the first year. Then players have their guaranteed 10s of millions that non-franchised free agents get.

Samuel is griping because being franchised only guarantees him $7m, while comparable free agents are getting guaranteed deals of $15m+. If he had a similar guarantee, he'd be more willing to report.

Which players are making $15M+ Per year? I though Peyton and Mexico were the highest paid guys making between 10-11M per year. But I guess I could be wrong.

NFL contracts are not guaranteed so don't believe the hype of OL getting 50mil, the signing bonus is the big money and that's why most of these guys**** about the franchise tag, they want that bonus and guaranteed pay combined. anyway why would the pats trade for briggs when they won't pay above market value either?? samuel needs to be paid or let go though