Philadelphia Eagles Land Asante Samuel, Former Patriots All-Pro Agrees to $57M Deal

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One of the most-coveted players in this year’s free agent market, former New England Patriots All-Pro CB Asante Samuel, agreed to a six-year, $57 million deal with the Philadelphia Eagles today. A reported $20 million is guaranteed.

Asante brings two Super Bowl rings to Philadelphia, not to mention 16 interceptions in the past two seasons. He has 22 picks in his 75-game career thus far, so he’ll certainly help an Eagles defense that had only 11 interceptions and failed to score a defensive touchdown last season. Asante has great hands and usually catches anything near him, although he did drop a crucial INT that might have clinched Super Bowl XLII for the Patriots. But that’s a rarity. He’s one of the NFL’s best “shut down” corners. I wouldn’t hesitate to list him in my top five — with Champ Bailey being the “best-of-the-best.”

With the future of current starting CB Lito Sheppard an uncertainty, Asante was a player the Eagles felt they had to have. If you add Lito — and CB Sheldon Brown — to the mix, Philadelphia might have the best group of corners in the National Football League.