The Bucs Are On Asante Samuel’s Short List Of 32 Teams

Asante Samuel's agent, Alonzo Shavers, a man whose name means nothing to me, told a reporter from the Tampa Bay area that - surprise! - the Buccaneers are on Samuel's short list of preferred teams.

"We're not having a large pool of teams to choose 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."

A quick search shows that the Saints and the Eagles think they are the leaders to get him. I'm guessing that anyone who calls Shavers is going to be the leader to get Samuel.

I had a paragraph written about how the Bucs shouldn't sign Samuel despite his talents because it would put a serious dent in the salary cap for years to come and may cause some kind of friction in the locker room for one guy to be getting that much money. But I talked myself out of it. Cornerback is one of the primary needs on the team now and Bruce Allen is smart enough to structure the contract so it doesn't totally McKay the cap (yes, "McKay" is a verb now) down the road. A reasonable contract would give him between $8 - $9 million per year with about $20 - $25 million guaranteed on a practical five year deal. I don't know if he'd go for that because he will probably be able to command more, but I wouldn't advocate the Bucs setting a new standard for overpaying players.

Don't get me wrong. I think Samuel is twice the cornerback Nate Clements is and his contract set a new benchmark for corners. And he's better than DeAngelo Hall, who not only comes with huge contract demands but also trade requirements from the Falcons. But I think it would set a bad precedent for the team to give out a blockbuster deal when they have worked so hard to earn a reputation as a club that lives and dies by the team concept. The locker room is in pretty good shape now because they have strong leaders and a common bond of many of them taking less than they could have gotten elsewhere for the sake of the team. I don't think being the latest team to break the bank on one player would be good for that dynamic. But if Samuel's demands aren't unreasonable, I'd love to see him sign in Tampa.