Let's cut to the chase, the pats don't pay their people,they never did and it cost them another bowl last season. They didn't pay Branch and Adam, but they went out and spent millions on wide outs this summer. If they kept Branch they win and they save money. Pay the man (Samuel). You can only go to the well so long, and I must add, cutting good players don't show good management skills. Would you cut Tommy Boy? Please stop the slave labor in the name of team, Super Bowls don't feed your family, money does. PAY YOUR PLAYERS!

A very good NFL wide receiver produces about 1400 yards per year. Deion Branch has averaged less than 700 yards per year during his 4 years with the Patriots, he then went to Seattle and had 725 yards with the Seahawks last year. You do not win by paying a high % of your salary cap to wide receivers who produce 700 yards per year. Deon Branch is a good football player but not a guy who will carry a team.

Asante Samuel is also a good football player, but he is not a shut down corner as Ty Law was. Samuel does a nice job of jumping routes to intercept passes but that is always a gamble. If you jump routes you are always risking giving up a touchdown. Samuel has a big advantage because the Patriots pass rush does not give opposing quarterbacks much time to beat him. I would like to see Samuel stay with the Patriots but the truth is he is not an elite cornerback, just a good cornerback who is lucky to be part of a great pass rushing defense.

If Samuel goes to another team with an average pass rush he will be quickly exposed. The Patriots should spend the money to keep Ty Warren and Vincent Wilfork. Any good cornerback can be a star if he plays behind a great front seven. The Patriots have made the tough choices year after year. They seem to know who they need and who can be replaced.

You should only pay a fair price for the work rendered. I agree with the Pats and the way they do it. There is always other talent in the pipe line. Get a grip. The guy can get hurt and never return. Who knows all the details of all the contracts. The headlines and standard media don't tell all the facts, just the headlines to keep us jerks looking at there stories. There is always more to every deal then the so called Newspapers say.

Both Ty Law and Asante Samuel came out of college after running 4.52 forty yard dashes during Pro Scout Day. But Law always had brilliant anticipation, overpowering leg strength, a deceptive quickness in going deep either left or right to defend the would-be touchdown throw and, especially, an uncanny intelligence of the game. Law was simply brilliant when he was on his game.

Asante Samuel, on the contrary, probably watched tapes of Ty Law breaking on the Peyton Manning fastball and scoring after the interception. By mimicking the great Law he too did well. But unlike Law, he lacks the uncanny intelligence to make up for the lack of unrivaled deep speed. Nor is he a true shut-down corner in the manner of a Champ Bailey. Samuel, in other words, is a good corner rather than an elite one. Before last year, he was often beaten on deep throws to the right of the end zone because he is far better in cutting quickly to his left on inside throws. Ego and excellence, of course, are not the same thing.

As for showing he may be worthy any more than 6 million a year, Samuel has been outstanding for only one out of four of them. And it would not be an absolute surprise if Ellis Hobbs (4.43 forty), who is two steps faster with superb hand-eye coordination, may soon be better.

Just because the 49ers are fiscally irresponsible in paying Clements way too much, the Patriots don't have to be equally so. And paying Samuel more than Chicago's Vasher doesn't make common sense.

Frankly, Samuel isn't Champ Bailey, or even a young Ty Law, when he can't even make the Pro Bowl. Vasher did.

Samuel, in short, needs to prove that last year wasn't a fluke and reign in the ego. He's no Mike Haynes.

Those who support Asante often look to his 10 INT from a year ago. If he was truly an elite corner he probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to get that many. Shutdown corners don't always have a lot of picks but they change the game because QBs fear throwing anywhere in their vicinity.

"Please stop the slave labor in the name of team, Super Bowls don't feed your family, money does. PAY YOUR PLAYERS!"

Posted by: Eric Townes at July 16, 2007 09:43 PM

Slave labor is not $7 million per year, nor is it $250,000 per year. Slave labor is the work done by the people who serve as the backbone of our society such as mental health workers, teachers, policemen, firefighters, plumbers, etc. for $16,000 to $60,000 per year. Any person who can't feed his family for $250,000 per year is spending his income on the wrong thing, like dog fighting or the craps tables in Vegas.

Let the selfish brat go elsewhere. I have no pity on him. Money hungry, egocentric athletes have no place on the Patriots anymore since, thank God, the Krafts, BB, and Pioli arrived. Good riddance.

hey Eric,

you're not happy with your boy getting 7.8 mill?..get a grip, son..

Are you people who say the Pats are handling the pats situation incorrectly serious? Bill Belichick knows more about football and personnel than all of you combined...and you think you can question his decisions? Please.

Why don't you knuckleheads just sit back and enjoy the ride? They have won three superbowls and last year were one first down from winning another...but it was the defense that let them down last year. If they had a healthy Rodney Harrison - they win that game. The defense ran out of gas...period. Which is no surprise since the entire team had the flu and they traveled the entire country on the road to the AFC Championship.

So just (be quiet) and enjoy - you may think you know what you're talking about but you don't. Bill Belichick is one of the greatest football mind in history (if not ever) and we are extremely lucky to have the privilege to watch him work his craft.

Asante Samuel is being misled by ego & his agents. He has had two decent years of progression at his possession. However, he still gets burned by the deep ball, He cannot cut to his right at all, and always goes for the interception, always gambling doesn't always pay off. In his defense, the Patriots spent money on the WR because last year it came back to bite them hard. They have a defense that is going thru a changing of the guard while getting younger & better and expensive. The Patriots need to find a way to keep him and further his development, but he is no Champ Bailey that's for sure. There isn't a quarterback in the NFL who will even throw to his side of the field.

The reason the pats have won 3 out of the last 6 Super Bowls (and almost got to a 4th last year) is because of team-first mentality. Asante is a me-first kind of a guy and that's why the Pats aren't giving in to his selfish ways. Some of the previous postings refer to Branch's lack of success after going to Seattle which kinda shows that he wasn't worth what he was holding out for. And stating that Samuel is a good corner not a great one and backing that up with facts about the Pats team-first front 7 really hits home.

I say, save the money and let him go.