The Eagles are open to trading all-pro cornerback Asante Samuel before Tuesdays trade deadline, but no deal is imminent and the offer would have to be exceptional to pry Samuel away, a league source said.
Samuel is earning 5.9 million this year, 8.4 million 2012 and 10.4 million in 2013, and his future has been the subject of great speculation since the Eagles acquired Pro Bowl corners Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie during the summer.
With Asomugha and Samuel starting, Rodgers-Cromartie has been playing out of position in the slot and has struggled. Asomugha and Samuel both have one interception through six games, both against the Falcons. Samuel has 50 career interceptions, including the postseason.
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Back at Lehigh, Samuel first expressed his unhappiness at being part of a secondary that included three Pro Bowl corners.
If theyre tired of my big-playmaking ability, maybe theyll ship me out, Samuel said after reporting to training camp. Maybe theyll keep me. I dont know. Who knows. ... I want to be where Im wanted. If Im wanted here, then here. If Im not appreciated here, then life goes on, and I move on.
Samuel led the NFL with 10 interceptions for the Patriots in 2006 and with nine for the Eagles in 2009. He led the NFC with seven last year, despite missing five games.
If the Eagles do ship Samuel, they would likely try to obtain veteran linebacker help and not additional draft picks, since they need immediate help on defense and they already have a large stockpile of future picks.
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The risk of trading Samuel is that hes one of the few playmakers on the defense. He has eight career interception returns for touchdowns, eighth-most in NFL history. But his last one was in 2008, off Tarvaris Jackson in the playoff win over the Vikings.
Samuel has been credited with just four pass knockdowns this year, an unusually low total for him six games into the season.
If the Eagles do pull the trigger on a Samuel trade, which is still a big if, it would move Rodgers-Cromartie and Joselio Hanson back into positions that theyre both used to and have been effective in.
Rodgers-Cromartie, acquired from the Cards in the Kevin Kolb trade, has been playing inside for the first time in his career and has admittedly struggled with the transition. He has yet to make a big play, although he has dropped two catchable interceptions. And Hanson, the Eagles regular slot guy from 2006 through 2010, has played only sporadically since the team re-signed him just before the season started.
If the Eagles do ship Samuel, Rodgers-Cromartie would move back outside, where he made a Pro Bowl while with the Cards, and Hanson could return to the slot, where hed be an upgrade over Rodgers-Cromartie.
The trade deadline is 4 p.m. Tuesday.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com