Asante: Eagles Didn’t Want To Trade Me To Falcons
The Eagles’ offseason trade of Asante Samuel was complex for a few different reasons – most of all, because of Samuel’s contract.
The veteran cornerback had to restructure his deal with any team that wanted to trade for him, so in reality, it was almost like he was a free agent picking his destination. If the Eagles found a trading partner that was willing to offer up acceptable compensation, the call was still pretty much Samuel’s. No team in the league was going to trade for him and pay his original salary from the Eagles contract.
“It was a joint thing,” Samuel said, per the Falcons’ web site. “It was something we all had to agree on together. I had other choices that I was not going to pick. Atlanta was the place I wanted to come. They tried to not let me come to Atlanta of course, but we got it done. We got it done.”
The Birds ended up settling for a seventh-round pick from the Falcons.
Meanwhile, Samuel was asked about his Tweets last week, following the news that Andy Reid had fired Juan Castillo:
Sometimes you have to blame yourself. You can’t try and always point the figure at someone else
— Asante Samuel (@pick_six22) October 16, 2012
I’m just saying… Aint no decline over here #riseup
— Asante Samuel (@pick_six22) October 16, 2012
Asked about those comments, Samuel said, “Y’all assumed that was about Andy. I didn’t say it’s for Andy. I just made a quote and then another quote and everybody said that was for Andy, so y’all did that.”
But he did stick up for Castillo.
“Juan’s my guy. Shoutout to you, Juan,” Samuel said. “He had the 12th defense in the league. He was doing a good job as I could see, and it’s just unfortunate that he had to resign from his job or whatever. But great guy, man. Worked hard. Any coaches out there need another coach, he’ll definitely get the job done for you.”
Samuel and the Falcons sit at 6-0. They’ll take on an Eagles team that is at .500 and has lost three of four. Samuel’s clearly keeping tabs on his former team, so what does he think the Eagles’ issues have been so far?
“It’s kind of hard when 22 ain’t there,” Samuel said. “22 keeps things going for you, know what I mean? So just got to deal with it. Make your bed, you gotta lay in it, you know?”
And finally, he was asked what kind of reception he expects to get from the fans here Sunday afternoon.
“They better cheer for me,” Samuel said. “They’re going to cheer for me or we’re going to have a problem right there in Lincoln Financial Stadium.”
Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.