Why trade Asante Samuel? Late Saturday night, Andy Reid spoke for the first time about the Samuel trade and about the Eagles new-look secondary, which he believes wont be as limited as the Eagles have been in the past.
Reid said he understands why fans were upset that the Eagles not only traded Samuel, a four-time Pro Bowl cornerback, but also received only a seventh-round pick in return.
I completely understand our fans, Reid said. He was one of my favorite guys. He was a good football player. But this is the name of the game in the National Football League. Theres going to be change that takes place.
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And one of those changes was unloading Samuel, who had 25 interceptions in four years in Philly. A day before the draft, after nearly a year of trade speculation, the Eagles shipped Samuel to the Falcons for a seventh-round pick.
The moves allows the Eagles to move Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie from the slot, where he struggled last year, to Samuels left outside corner spot. With Nnamdi Asomugha and DRC, the Eagles have two corners who can play press coverage or play off the receiver. Samuel was exclusively an off corner, and he had great success at it -- 52 interceptions and nine TDs worth.
But the Eagles believe they can be a sounder defense with Asomugha and Rodgers-Cromartie manning the two outside spots and a true nickel corner inside.
We try to exploit everybodys strength as players, Reid said. Asantes best stuff was off and outside. And thats what we tried to do the years that he was here. With that, youre a bit limited. Listen, his production was great. Hes a good player. These guys, you can do different things with, and well see how their production works out.
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Rodgers-Cromartie, who the Eagles acquired from the Cards in the Kevin Kolb trade, didnt play well until he moved outside the last couple games of the season, which Samuel missed with a hamstring injury.
But in his first three seasons, all with Arizona, DRC had 13 interceptions and four touchdown returns. Hes one of only 14 players in NFL history with four INT returns for touchdowns in his first four NFL seasons.
Reid said there was no one overwhelming reason the Eagles traded Samuel. Among the factors that went into the decision to unload one of the most productive cornerbacks of his generation were the Eagles depth at the position, Samuels high salary and the ability for the projected starters, Asomugha and DRC, to be more versatile.
A whole lot of things go into it, he said. Weve got enough corners where we can do this. ... Youve got a cap situation youve got to work with, looking about the future, and youve got to put all this together.
Its a little bit of a puzzle. The fans dont necessarily have to do that, and Im not asking them to do it. I want them to be fans. And I understand. Im with them. I get it. Weve got to make it all fit together and make it work.
One remaining unanswered question is this: Who plays the slot next year?
Joselio Hanson is back, and hes a capable, experienced slot. Reid said the Eagles are considering working last years third-round pick, Curtis Marsh, into the mix in the slot as well. And fourth-round pick Brandon Boykin, a guy many experts projected as a second-round pick, played a lot of slot at Georgia. Theres also Brandon Hughes, whos spent time the last couple years on the Eagles 53-man roster.
Marsh is kind of the wild card in the cornerback mix. He didnt get a lot of chances to play last year, but when he did, he wasnt too bad. Especially considering he had no off-season as a rookie.
Reid remains high on Marsh, who will most likely end up being the top outside backup, with Hanson, Boykin or Hughes manning the slot.
He has the ability, Reid said. He loves to press. Hes big and strong. He loves the game. Normally, you have to talk guys into doing that press coverage. Between him, DRC and Nnamdi, they like getting right up there, taking their size and trying to lock a guy down.
Reid revealed Saturday evening while chatting with a group of beat writers that one consideration in where to ship Samuel was Samuels own family situation.
You make the calls and you try to work it, and at the same time, hes a veteran player, hes had good years for us, so you want to get him in a direction closer to home, which he needed, because of his family, Reid said.
He has some kids and his mom, shes up there a little bit, his sister, and he wanted to play in Atlanta. So we checked with Atlanta and we checked all over the league, and thats really the best we could do.
There werent a whole lot of teams, to be honest with you, that were interested.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com