Saints-Asante Samuel reportedly a "done deal."

[Cj7298419]

People on the Saints and Patriots boards have been following this.

Even though it's considered tampering, supposedly the Saints have a deal in place to give Samuel at least 10 mil per year.

http://profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm (scroll down a ways)



http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/...asante-samuel/

Saints in Lead to Sign Asante Samuel

Posted Feb 27th 2008 6:50AM by Michael David Smith
Filed under: Patriots, Saints, Boston, New Orleans, NFL Free Agency
New England Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel is less than 48 hours away from becoming an unrestricted free agent, and the New Orleans Saints are the early favorites to sign him. In fact, some league observers believe the Saints and Samuel's agent have already engaged in some early (and technically against the rules) contract negotiations that could land Samuel in New Orleans before the weekend is over.

Fox Sports reports that the Saints are in the lead to give Samuel the contract of $10 million to $11 million a year that he seeks. Pro Football Talk reports that there's talk in league circles that the deal has already been worked out.

A shutdown cornerback is the Saints' highest priority this off-season. New Orleans had the worst pass defense in the league last season, and that was the biggest reason the Saints declined from the NFC Championship Game to missing the playoffs. Having Samuel cost $10 million a year or more against the salary cap is an awfully big investment and probably too much money, but it's better than standing pat.
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[TheShizNo1]

What kind of scheme do the Saint run? Anything similar to the Pats?

[Cj7298419]

Quote: Originally Posted by theshiznetno1

What kind of scheme do the Saint run? Anything similar to the Pats?

Saints run mostly man with a little bit of zone pitched in. One of the aspects of this deal people are talking about is if Samuel will fit well in a mostly man-coverage scheme. I think he will be fine but others beg to differ.

[TheShizNo1]

I was going to say, haven't the Saint learned from David? I'm going to say he got a lot of those picks because he was very aggressive, you can't be that aggressive in man to man. We'll see what happens when he's lined up against Steve Smith

[Cj7298419]

Quote: Originally Posted by theshiznetno1

I was going to say, haven't the Saint learned from David? I'm going to say he got a lot of those picks because he was very aggressive, you can't be that aggressive in man to man. We'll see what happens when he's lined up against Steve Smith

I see your point, but in Samuel's defense, he's a much better corner than David. Not to mention, David's size was also a problem that Samuel won't have to deal with. I've seen Asante play very good man-to-man defense against some of the top receivers and I was impressed.

[Brandon13]

Please get this done. Please

[Flyboy]

I'm not too thrilled about this...

[Brandon13]

Quote: Originally Posted by Flyboy

I'm not too thrilled about this...

Too much money... overrated? Both?