The Clock Is Ticking
Patriots, Samuel Have 7 Days

This time next Monday, the Patriots will either have a happy cornerback and a complete defense, or they will have an angry cornerback and a question mark in the secondary. The deadline to sign the franchise tender offered to Asante Samuel is 4pm on July 16. As it stands, however, the Providence Journal reports the contract talks are at a standstill and things are looking grim.

After Samuel's career-best season, one in which he snagged a league-high ten interceptions with 65 tackles, he is facing three options: strike a deal, sign the $7.79 million franchise tender or hold out. Only a few weeks ago did Samuel voice his intention to sit out until week 10 even though he would leave nearly $5 million of the $7.79 million on the table.

New England Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel returns an interception for a touchdown in January's 37-16 Wild Card win over the New York Jets. Photo courtesy: boston.com

No matter how you look at this situation, it is a very pivotal and difficult one. During the time of year when teams are rushing to sign rookies to contracts before training camp, the Patriots now need to wrestle with the options they have: work hard to find an agreeable deal with Samuel or risk losing their starting cornerback for ten weeks. Samuel's hold out would leave injury-prone Randall Gay, rookie Brandon Merriweather or recently acquired Tory James to vie for the starting cornerback position across from third year Ellis Hobbs.

Many pundits argue that Samuel is not worth the big money thrown at Nate Clements in San Francisco because he has only one great year under his belt.  However, Samuel nabbed two picks in the post-season last year and returned both of them for touchdowns. That type of play-making ability can only help his cause.

It is rumored that Asante is asking for $10 million a year, just as Clements received. It is also rumored that the counteroffer proposed by the Patriots was in the neighborhood of $8 million a year. To this date, Samuel has only received around $2 million in his entire career.

Using three other major cornerback deals this off-season as a barometer, it seems as though Samuel's asking price is a little high. After Clements record-breaking 8-year, $80 million deal, the numbers drop significantly. Pro Bowler Dre' Bly signed a 5-year, $33 million deal with Denver after being traded there from Detroit this spring. Another Pro Bowl corner, Chicago's Nathan Vasher, signed a modest extension with numbers in the 5-year, $28 million range. Even though Samuel has never been selected for the Pro Bowl, his agent has said that these numbers do not impact what the Patriots corner is expecting from the team.

Needless to say, the next seven days will prove to be tense days in the Patriots camp. It has been Bill Belichick's and Scott Pioli's practice to assess a player and assign a fair value to him. While this technique is team-first and has been one of the more fiscally responsible systems, it has also forced the Patriots into positions to lose quite a few key players in recent years. Adam Vinatieri, Willie McGinest, Ty Law, Deion Branch and David Givens were all lost to free agency or trades because their asking prices were higher than the values assigned to them by the Patriots front office. Will Samuel join these jettisoned players or will No. 22 be back with a smile for years to come?

On July 16, we will have an answer.