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Asante Wants To Join Tampa

Posted Feb 25, 2008 by Anwar S. Richardson

Updated Feb 25, 2008 at 02:48 PM

Tampa Bay might be courting several free agents, but Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel is ready to entice the Bucs.

Samuel is slated to become an unrestricted free agent later this week and Tampa Bay is on the short list of teams he is interested in playing for.

“That [Tampa Bay] is a situation that makes sense,” said Alonzo Shavers, Samuel’s agent. “Tampa Bay is definitely worth considering. It was an organization that was in the Super Bowl not too long ago. It is an organization Asante wants to play for. It’s definitely something that makes perfect sense for everybody.”

Shavers said he has not spoken with Tampa Bay yet, but expects to speak with the Bucs after Samuel officially becomes a free agent on February 29.

Tampa Bay might listen to Shavers’ pitch, especially considering it is about to lose cornerback Brian Kelly to free agency. The longtime starting left corner recently paid $453,000 to come a free agent, leaving Tampa Bay thin at that position.

Samuel, 27, would be an instant upgrade for one of the top secondary’s in the NFL.

Since entering the NFL five years ago, Samuel (5-foot-10 and 185 pounds) has emerged into one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL, evident by his Pro Bowl appearance. Samuel, who has two Super Bowl rings, started 53 of 75 career regular-season games and notched 232 tackles (208 solo), 22 interceptions for 224 yards and three touchdowns.

The biggest number that could hinder Samuel from becoming a Buccaneer is the nearly $8 million salary he earned last season with New England.

Tampa Bay is $30 million under the salary cap, but the Bucs typically do not spend large amounts of money on free agents. Bucs cornerback Ronde Barber was the second highest paid player on the roster at $6 million (rookie Gaines Adams earned $15 million), and Samuel would likely want a contract to match or exceed what he was paid last season.

However, Shavers is optimistic an agreement can be made.

“We’re not having a large pool of teams to chose from,” Shavers said. “Not everybody will need him or want to pay that kind of money. It’s going to be a select group and Tampa Bay is high on our short list.”

What are you thoughts? Do you think Tampa Bay GM Bruce Allen should talk with Samuel, or would you prefer to draft a cornerback?