Forget restructuring for a minute. Without knowing how his contract is setup, worrying about it is pointless. We don't absorb the full cap hit of his contract. A lot of that gets hit on the Eagles.
That's not necessarily true; they are smartly viewing him as an asset. He'd fetch a hefty return. The Texans should be interested; as justtxyank noted: Samuel changes games and Wade looks like he's a building a bend-don't-break defense designed to make critical stops and turnovers. I'm with Donny on Mario, though; no way you deal a 26-year old plus-defender for a 30-year CB. Not unless they're going to throw in picks. My guess is that they'd love to get a Samuel-like impact player to improve an area of weakness ahead of picks; they're in win-now mode, too (more so than the Texans, really). Would Barwin float their boat? They're a 4-3, right?
I also want to point out that the Eagles are playing Samuel as a starter, not as a nickle guy, and they are also a team thinking about what they need to win a SB, not just make the playoffs. They were a SB type team with a ton of cap room. There were deals to be made for two good CBs that would still leave them with cap room. For a team trying to be better than GB and go win a SB, it made sense. It would be unwise to think that because they took opportunities to get better that it means they don't like Samuel. More likely it means they didn't like their #2CB situation or their nickel situation. I would deal Mario for Asante and picks. Truth be told though, they have Cole who is better than Mario and they just signed Babin who was better than Mario last year. I doubt they are interested in Mario at his money or in Barwin. We don't really match up with them is my guess.
Who provided reasonable stats to back up his claim. They were actually out of the running for Nnamdi once they acquired DRC. It look a last minute text message from his agent and some final negotiations before the Eagles were in play for him. I'm not saying he is worth giving up Mario for but he is not as bad as you're making him out to be.
He'll get franchise tagged and traded before that happens. 1) He has to be willing to restructure and 2) either way, that's still close to 19 million left for 2 years of service from a 31 year old DB who got bumped from his #1CB spot all too easily, no thank you.
I'll take the Eagles opinion over his. Cool story bro. Unfortunately it changes nothing about Samuel getting replaced. Look at his age. Look at his contract. Look at their perceived value of him. Look at what they're asking. Do you really think that is worth it?
Have you analyzed his contract structure to figure out what the Texans would actually be responsible for of that 19 mil or are just so anti-Samuel because someone suggested trading Mario for him that you are being lazy with facts?
Lazy garbage right here. Samuel hasn't been replaced. He's a starting corner for them. They are only going to move him if they get a really good offer for him. Otherwise they are happy to let Samuel start for them and win them games with his interceptions.
How much of that is signing bonus money and how much is base salary? If he is traded, how much of that ends up on the books for the new team and how much do the Eagles eat? NFL contracts are not baseball contracts. You can't simply look at how much they are "due" in the coming years.
If he's such an integral part of their team and a valuable asset, they 1) wouldn't have been in the market for 2 DBs and 2) wouldn't be trying to trade him right now. The Eagles aren't stupid, they know he's more of a liability than an asset to their team right now. It's smart business to try and trade him. His value is high, he's not super old yet (for a DB, anyway), and the big money on his contract hasn't hit their wallets yet. They're looking for a desperate sucker, I just hope we're not taking the bait. This reminds me of every trade we've seen come out of New England in the past decade. Take a player entering the downside of his career that is due a crapton of money, trade him for picks, and continue pwning people's faces. Come on, Andy, lower that asking price!
They gave him a 6-year, $57MM deal just three years ago; I would wager their opinion of him is still high, he's just become a valuable commodity - an older vet with a younger replacement behind him who could help the team improve an area of weakness.
They weren't in the market for 2. They were in the market for 1 and they got him in DRC. When Aso's agent went back to the Eagles and they realized they could add Aso to their secondary and STILL have cap room, they made the deal. What idiot wouldn't sign the best CB in the world when it would not negatively impact the cap just because you had two players on the roster already who weren't as good?
Time for the Texans to win now, give them a couple number 2s and be done with it. This is their year. DD
Do you not know anything about NFL contracts? Most of them are backloaded like crazy because teams can just cut you or renegotiate those contracts. This contract is not out of the norm.
I don't know what Philadelphia might pinpoint as a weakness on their team, but if they can leverage Samuel for an asset that improves the weakness, and can counter Samuel's loss with DRC, it's a no-brainer and in no way a condemnation of Samuel's ability or value. Samuel had a terrific 2010 season. He's not pouting Randy Moss, or just got paid Albert Haynesworth or even your buddy, not likely to make the team Chad Johnson. He's a *very* good player who significantly upgrades a position of weakness for a team in win-now mode. And let's not forget: Jonathan Joseph has yet to step foot on a playing field. He's behind and right now, not someone we can wholly count on. How does an Allen/Jackson starting combo sound for week 1 against Peyton?
You must not know how the Eagles work. lol He is still the starter unless he is traded. Again, the contract is not out of the norm. It can be renegotiated or he can be cut. Backloading is very, very common in NFL contracts.
