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The Aftermath of the Asante Samuel Deal.
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Well the Eagles broke the bank open signing the top free agent on the market. Asante Samuel is an upgrade to a secondary that despite their big names, was arguably one of the worst in the league last season. The Eagles ranked 18th against the pass which isn't that bad, but when it came to turnovers, the Eagles were flat out terrible. They were last in the NFL with 11 interceptions and 0 defensive TD's. As much as people would like to think that this was not a need, it was. Was it an immediate need, maybe not, but Asante Samuel is an upgrade from Lito Sheppard.
Those who say that Lito is as good as Asante are mistaken. There are three reasons why it was good to do this. One, Lito has missed 14 games in the last two seasons, and has only played one full season in his entire career. It is well documented that when he does get hurt, which is often, that he takes his time coming back and sometimes doesn't give the full effort to try and get back on the field. When he is healthy, Lito is a top ten cornerback. Not in the top five, or the best, top ten. He is not in the elite. Two, he wants a new contract. He told Comcast SportsNET's Derrick Gunn that he was going to ask the Eagles for a new contract or ask for them to trade him. He saw what Nate Clements got last year, and knew what kind of money Samuels would demand this year and was going to use that, along with his thought that he was one of the elite, as leverage to get a new deal with the Eagles. Bad move. Three, you don't want a disgruntled player in the locker room, see Terrell Owens. So knowing that Lito is unhappy, wants more money, and the fact that he has missed 30% of the games that the Eagles have played in the last three years, would you give him a new contract.
Let me put this way. Say you're working at the office or where ever it is that you work. Now there are roughly 253 work days in a calender year. Over three years that's roughly 759 work days. Say you miss 30% of work at the office over those three years, which would be 228 days or 76 days per year. [2] Which broken down further, you would be missing one and half days of work per week. You decided over the last three years that you like to call out on Monday's and on Friday's you leave work at lunchtime and go get drunk with your homies, or whatever it is you do when your skipping work, or maybe your actually sick. Then one day you come to work, which is rare for you on a Friday afternoon, and you hear that Bob, who does the same job as you but better, and rarely misses a day, has gotten a promotion and a nice raise. So you, "feeling" that you're just as qualified, which you are not, and have been with the company longer, deserve the same promotion and raise that Bob has gotten. So the next day you go to your boss and tell him you would like the raise and promotion Bob got or you would like to be traded to another office. Now the boss has the choice of letting you go or giving you the raise you want but don't deserve. The boss has the money and the ability to give you the raise but doesn't want to. He likes you. You perform great every once and while. You have great potential, but you've been here six years and have not lived up to your resume. So, instead he looks on Monster.com to see what new talent is available. He sees Mike available. Mike worked for Microsoft for five years, and has numerous achievements. He wants a salary which is around Bob's and would like to start immediately. Mike has a great resume, and never misses work.
Now if you were the boss, what would you do? Give Lito a raise that he doesn't deserve or [3] hire Asante off the street. Lito demanding the same money, maybe a little less, then what Clements and Samuel got, when he doesn't deserve it, is not right. So now what to do with Lito Sheppard. For those hoping that we would keep Lito and use him with Sheldon and Asante or move Sheldon to safety, keep dreaming, its not going to happen. Lito is on the trade block. The NFL network reported that the Eagles are shopping Lito to other teams right now. The Eagles have already updated the depth chart on their website and it shows Lito as a second string CB.
Quick note off the subject, Takeo Spikes is not on the depth chart, they have Akeem Jordan as starting WLB. Anyway, Lito is out. It could happen in the next week or by the draft, but it is going to happen.
Originally Posted on ihatephilly.blogspot.com on March 1st.
Recent Eagles posts:
- The Benchwarmers - The Story of the Eagles 2007 Draft Class
- The Philadelphia Eagles Offseason Part 1.
- The Philadelphia Eagles Offseason Part 2.
- The Philadelphia Eagles Offseason Part 3.
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