Nnamdi Asomugha will join Asante Samuel and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in the Eagles' loaded secondary. (U.S. Presswire)
6:56 p.m., Flowery Branch, Ga.
I was just sitting on some bleachers with Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson and he was shaking his head in awe about Darrelle Revis and Nnamdi Asomugha playing together at corner in New York. ?Unbelievable,? he said. ?Do you have any idea how hard it?ll be to throw on them??
No, and we never will. I just texted Robinson to tell him the stunning news ? Asomugha, through his crafty agent Ben Dogra, just agreed to a five-year, $60 million deal with Philadelphia. Not the Jets. Not the Cowboys. The Eagles, who add Asomugha to a stable of corners that already includes Asante Samuel and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Wouldn?t be surprised to see Samuel dealt, but I was just told by a good source that it?s no gimme the Eagles will deal Samuel.
And one league source just told me something that surprised me. ?Nnamdi wanted to play in Philadelphia,? the source said. More than New York, where Rex Ryan was planning to make Asomugha and Revis his defensive centerpieces? Yes, the source said.
The contract is stunning ? just $12 million a year for a player who made $28 million over the last two years and was the hottest player on the free agent market. So the source appears to be spot on: Clearly Asomugha would have been offered more by at least one other team. The $12 million annual figure is what the Panthers paid defensive end Charles Johnson this week. Clearly there was something enticing about this Eagles bid, possibly the ability to go to a team with the chance to win the Super Bowl from the NFC.
This deal reminds me of what the Eagles did 23 months ago, sneakily signing Michael Vick when no one expected it. Peeling the onion on this story will be fascinating.
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