Yet another over priced professional sports athlete wants to get paid and demands a trade if he won't get his fair market value.
Shocking.
Not really though, and that is the sad thing.
Even sadder is the fact that the player in question is one that dons a New England Patriot uniform.
Asante Samuel, who tied the league in interceptions this past season, is due to make $8 million after he was slapped with the franchise tag by the Patriots. Barely a month after he had the tag placed on him, which guarantees him a one year deal that averages the top 5 salaries at his position, and Samuel is using the media to get "what he is owed". That worked out awfully well for Deion Branch, didn't it?
I cannot stand athletes that think they are owed millions of dollars and threaten to not play or demand trades. If it was in the Collective Bargaining Agreement for players to hand back money to teams when they under perform then I would understand, but they don't, and so they believe they have vast amounts of leverage and clout. It sours the fans and the organization when people start using the media to try and gain the upper hand in contract negotiations.
What players like Branch and Samuel and even former player Ty Law fail to understand is that for the Patriots it really is the system and the schemes and the coaches that make it work. Without Branch, the Patriots were well on their way to the Super Bowl to play the Chicago Bears with their makeshift receiving corps before they let up on the Colts. Without Ty Law before, they went to the Super Bowl and won. They've taken players and put them where they need to be and won. And they'll do it again.
With or without Samuel.
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